Bruno Rodríguez rejects U.S. human trafficking report
The foreign minister challenged the 2026 report, which keeps Cuba in the lowest classification for a seventh consecutive year.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla rejected the U.S. State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, calling it “unilateral and false.” He also accused Washington of using the document to justify its Cuba policy and pressure the island’s medical-cooperation programs.
The report has kept Cuba in Tier 3 since 2019. According to the document, the country’s labor-export program involves forced labor; described practices include withholding part of workers’ pay, surveillance and restrictions on movement.
The report also mentions the recruitment of Cubans to fight in Ukraine on Russia’s behalf. Rodríguez criticized U.S. pressure on governments that receive Cuban medical cooperation.