Venezuela, Cuba Reject US Trafficking in Persons Report Claims

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, in which Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela appear among the countries that do not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.

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In reaction to those statements, the Venezuelan authorities stressed that such a report seeks to justify the extension of the U.S. sanctions against the Bolivarian nation.

“The illegal and unilateral coercive measures implemented by the U.S. government are intended to cause maximum harm to the Venezuelan population and sometimes constitute an incentive for the migration of people who is vulnerable to the scourge of trafficking,” the Bolivarian Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

The diplomats also expressed their concern about the situation of migrants in the United States, a country where Venezuelans are often victims of institutionalized discrimination and are not properly protected from human traffickers.

“It is unfortunate that the U.S. ignores its responsibility and also tries to disqualify the work of the Bolivarian government, which fully complies with its commitments in this matter,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry pointed out.

"Once again, Venezuela does not recognize the power by which the United States, whose actions encourage flagrant violations of human rights in our region, intends to set itself up as a watchdog of other countries' policies," it added, noting that a country cannot manipulate international law at will.

“Venezuela urges the U.S. government to frame its actions within diplomacy and respect the sovereignty and self-determination of other nations,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry reiterated.

In Cuba, Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez was emphatic in pointing out that his country has a "zero tolerance policy" for human trafficking.

"Void of a policy of its own, the President Joe Biden's administration repeats Donald Trump's lies linking Cuba's international medical cooperation to trafficking in persons, the true purpose being to justify suffocation measures against Cuban people," he pointed out.