The communist Castro regime in Cuba announced on Monday it is working to “neutralize and dismantle” an alleged human trafficking network that recruits Cuban citizens to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The communist regime’s announcement follows reports published last week indicating at least two Cuban teenagers accused Russian scammers of deceiving them with a fake construction job offer to coerce them into fighting in Ukraine.
In a statement issued by the Cuban Foreign Ministry on Monday, the Castro regime asserted that the alleged human trafficking network operates from Russia and involves “Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba.”
“Attempts of this nature have been neutralized and criminal proceedings have been initiated against persons involved in these activities,” the statement reads.
The Russian government has not commented on the allegations at press time.
Cuba has been a longstanding ally of Russia. Much like the other two authoritarian regimes in the region – Venezuela and Nicaragua – it has openly expressed its support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla claimed last year that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “necessary” in response to the existence of NATO, despite Ukraine not being a member country of the organization.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (L) meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 22, 2022. ( MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
The Castro regime nonetheless asserted through its statement that Cuba is “not part of the war in Ukraine.” The statement claimed Cuba’s “enemies” have promoted “distorted information that seeks to tarnish the country’s image and present it as an accomplice to these actions,” which they “categorically reject.”
The Castro regime continued its statement by insisting Cuba has a “firm and clear historical position against mercenarism,” and claiming that they play an “active role in the United Nations in repudiation of that practice.”
In reality, the Castro regime has a track history of sending young Cuban men to fight in foreign wars that Cuba has no involvement in, such as the communist intervention in Angola during the 1970s, where thousands of Cubans that were sent to fight died.
“[Cuba] is acting and will act energetically against anyone who, from the national territory, participates in any form of trafficking in persons for the purpose of recruitment or mercenarism so that Cuban citizens may use arms against any country,” the Castro regime’s statement concluded.
A report published last week indicated that two men claiming to be 19-year old Cuban teenagers denounced having been scammed by unspecified Russian nationals, who allegedly deceived them with a fake construction job offer.
In a video, the two men, whose identities were confirmed by journalist Juan Manuel Cao of the Miami-based América TeVé as Alex Vegas Díaz and Andorf Velázquez García, pleaded for help and requested assistance in getting back to Cuba after their requests to be deported were met with threats of up to 30 years in prison.
Mario Velázquez, father of Andorf Velázquez García, claimed to América TeVé on Monday that his son had been allegedly recruited to go to Russia by a “Cuban and a Russian woman.”
“I left Cuba on July 27 and my son had already left for Russia,” said Velázquez, who is currently living in Mexico. “But at no time was it said that they were going to war. That was never said. They were going to provide service, some construction work, trenches, but at no time were they told that they were going to war.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurate a monument to late Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Moscow on November 22, 2022. (SERGEI GUNEYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
When asked if the Castro regime knew about his son’s case, Velázquez asserted that they do, reasoning his response by taking into account that the communist Castro regime maintains a fierce control over its citizens, specially those of military age.
“How do you think that a government that controls everything is not going to know about it?” He responded. “They do know about human trafficking.”
On the other hand, Cary Díaz, Alex Vegas Díaz’s mother, stated that she remains uncertain about her son’s whereabouts, explaining that she has not received a call from her son in “many days.”
“What we hear here, in the street, is that there are many missing people, that we do not know where they are,” Díaz asserted. “That is what people say. [Her son’s girlfriend] says that the house is surrounded by the State Security and that she cannot leave the house.”
The two Cuban teenagers are not the first reported case of Cuban citizens fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
In May, a group of at least 14 Cuban citizens had reportedly enlisted in the Russian armed forces to fight in Ukraine. In return, the Russian government offered those who enlisted an expedited path to citizenship after one year of military service.
