this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023

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Cuba arrests 17 for trafficking young men to fight for Russia in Ukraine (www.reuters.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/world

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm confused, the human trafficking implies those people didn't consent but ij the article they call them mercenaries for hire. Which is it?

[+] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

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[+] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

[deleted]

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Human traffickers tend to not be very honest.

[+] [email protected] -9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But there's a reason why Cuban citizens can't leave the country legally (it's not the free healthcare).

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As of January 14, 2013, all Cuban government-imposed travel restrictions and controls have been abolished. Since that date, any Cuban citizen, with a valid passport, can leave the country at will, without let or hindrance from the Cuban authorities.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Cuba#:~:text=As%20of%20January%2014%2C%202013,hindrance%20from%20the%20Cuban%20authorities.

[+] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Poverty is the main barrier for people from any country leaving their country

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, the cost of a passport (charged by the Cuban government) is now a barrier. Also, they may not allow you to leave if you are a doctor, baseball player, communist official, etc.

So yes, people can "leave" now if they have a lot of money and permission from the government. It's nothing like a free country.

They use their doctors as educated slave labor:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cuba-trafficking-idUSKBN1WC00X

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/23/cuba-repressive-rules-doctors-working-abroad

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cuba-trafficking-idUSKBN1WC00X

I wouldn't trust the country that tried to assassinate Cuba's leader, overthrow their government and organized terrorist attacks in its land to have valid criticisms for Cuba.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/23/cuba-repressive-rules-doctors-working-abroad

Health workers may also face criminal penalties if they “abandon” their jobs.

This sounds bad, but then again they're on a foreign mission, with their country's reputation on the line. A considerable amount of health workers abandoning their jobs might make the mission infeasible, which could create diplomatic issues for Cuba. Also, I wonder if that's the case on soldiers (American or otherwise) on foreign missions. I would expect that they can't abandon their jobs without penalty, and I don't see how this is that different.

it is considered a “disciplinary offense” to have “relationships” with anyone whose “actions are not consistent with the principles and values of the Cuban society,” as well as to be “friends or establish any other links” with Cuban dissidents, people who have “hostile or contrary views to the Cuban revolution,” or who are “promoters of a way of life contrary to the principles that a Cuban collaborator abroad must represent.”

Again, these seem restrictions that would apply on soldiers on foreign missions, so it doesn't seem weird to me that they apply to Cuba's medical missions.

Under Resolution 168, doctors need “authorization and instructions” to “express opinions” to the media about “internal situations in the workplace” or that “put the Cuban collaboration at risk.” It is also an offense to “disseminate or propagate opinions or rumors that undermine the morals or prestige of the group or any of its members.”

I believe Cuba wouldn't need to enforce this if they weren't under -economic- siege by the US and their allies. What the doctors do or say on the missions could be the start of a diplomatic incident.

Others said they joined in the hope of leaving the country or of obtaining access to food, such as meat, which they cannot buy with their salaries in Cuba.

I can't help but wonder if meat would be cheaper in Cuba without the embargo against them.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is Che Guevara, the George Washington of Cuba, talking about the Cuban Missile Crisis:

While expounding on the incident later, Guevara reiterated that the cause of socialist liberation against global "imperialist aggression" would ultimately have been worth the possibility of "millions of atomic war victims".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

Dude wanted to fire them off and the Soviets told him to pipe down. This is the insanity their government was founded on.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Just a reminder that the US dropped two atomic bombs on huge civilian targets, had top generals who lobbied hard to use nukes in Vietnam, and a recent president who wanted to use them in Afghanistan, and on a hurricane. This is the insanity of Cuba's greatest historical enemy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

He is coming from a country that suffered terrorist attacks organized by the US (Operation Mongoose), being ready to fire his country's deterrent weapons if they don't stop receiving such attacks makes sense to me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

With a valid passport...

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago

Because in Cuba it is illegal to have mercenary groups, Cuba doesn't do this.

On top of that they want no hand in this mess Russia made for themselves. So they're prosecuting aggressively in response.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

"DEPENDING ON the severity and type of crimes..."

I Guess they are unsure if they went willingly

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Quick! Now do republicans!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

HAVANA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Cuban authorities said they had arrested 17 people on charges related to a ring of human traffickers that allegedly lured young Cuban men to serve in the Russian military amid the Ukraine conflict.

Cuba earlier this week revealed authorities were working to "neutralize and dismantle" the network, which it said operated both on Cuban soil and in Russia.

"As a result of the investigations, 17 people have been arrested so far, among them the internal organizer of these activities," Cesar Rodriguez, a colonel with Cuba´s interior ministry, said late on Thursday on a TV program.

Rodriguez did not name any of those accused of participating in the ring, but said the group´s leader relied on two people residing on the island to recruit Cubans to fight for hire on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.

Prosecutor Jose Luis Reyes said those involved in the scandal could be punished with up to 30 years in prison, a life sentence or the death penalty, depending on the severity and type of crimes, which range from human trafficking, fighting as a mercenary and hostile action against a foreign state.

Russia, which has strong political ties with communist-run Cuba, has long been an important destination for Cuban migrants seeking to escape economic stagnation at home.

The original article contains 263 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 18%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] b000urns 4 points 1 year ago

So messed up