June 2024 – dwkcommentaries

Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Growing Season

Rev. Dr. Jeff Japinga, Transitional Senior Pastor for Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, has the following message for our living in this “growing season:”[1]

“The church year calls this long stretch of time as the growing season, with green as its liturgical color. What better time, then, to do here at Westminster what we are inclined to do in our lives—to turn ourselves inside out. To live on the outside instead of simply in our own hearts and minds—or in our own sanctuary. And so we will…

“Stand with friends and allies in Loring Park for Twin Cities Pride Festival, with a message that ‘All are welcome in God’s church.’”
“Invite our neighbors to the plaza on six consecutive Wednesdays for Bluegrass Evening Prayer, stepping outside into their world instead of simply inviting them inside into ours.”
“Return to Loring Park in late July for the art festival, adding our particular good news to the incredible creativity we see from artists.”
“And behind the scenes, take moments during this slightly slower time to plan what our efforts in justice will look like year-round, living out our 12th Street sign: ‘Justice is what love looks like in public.’”

“Church is the community that incarnates love both within its own fellowship and love for the larger world. What better time to follow God’s leading and turn ourselves out toward the whole people of God than the inside-out month of July?”

Our “growing season” includes the continuing work of our Westminster Town Hall Advisory Board, the Member-to-Member Ministry Team, the Westminster Counseling Center, the Youth Service-Learning Trips and the Pastor Nominating Committee.[2]

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[1] Rev. Japinga, From Our Pastor, Westminster News (July 2024).

[2] Westminster News (July 2024).

U.S. Criticizes Cuban Religious Freedom

On June 27, 2024, the U.S. State Department released its lengthy 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom. Surprisingly it did not contain an overall summary of this freedom in the world for 2023. [1]

Instead it opened with a short Overview and Acknowledgements followed by the texts of the following sources of the law on international religious freedom:

Appendix A: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Appendix B: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Appendix C: Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief
Appendix D: Religious Freedom Provisions, Commitments, and Obligations From Regional Bodies and Instruments
Appendix E: Department of State Training Related to the International Religious Freedom Act-2003
Appendix F: Department of Homeland Security and the International Religious Freedom Act
Appendix G: Overview of U.S. Refugee Policy-2023

The State Department report then contained separate summaries of religious freedom in all the world’s countries, starting with Afghanistan and ending with Zimbabwe.

Report on Cuba

The report on Cuban religious freedom had the following sections: Executive Summary, Religious Demography, Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom, Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom and U.S. Government Policy and Engagement.

Here is that Executive Summary:

“The constitution contains written provisions for religious freedom and prohibitions against discrimination based on religious grounds; however, provisions in the penal and administrative codes contravene these protections. The constitution declares the country a secular state and provides for the separation of religious institutions and the state, but the Cuban Communist Party (CCP), through its Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), regulates religious practice. The law requires all religious groups to apply to the MOJ for official registration. By law, membership in or association with an unregistered group is a crime. The penal code stipulates a minimum sentence of six months’ incarceration, a fine, or both for individuals who attempt to conscientiously object to military service or prevent minors from attending public school, including those whose objections are based on their religious beliefs. It also imposes sentences of up to 10 years’ imprisonment on persons receiving funding from foreign organizations or for financing activities considered to be directed against the state or its constitutional order. The family code states parents have the responsibility to instill in children love for the homeland, respect for its symbols, and respect for government authorities.”

“In its annual Watch List, the Christian nongovernmental organization (NGO) Open Doors reported an increase in government persecution of Christians from 2019 to 2023, including use of repressive tactics against religious leaders and activists opposing CCP ideology through arrests, exile, arbitrary fines, surveillance, denials of licenses, religious visas, freedom of movement, and physical and mental abuse. According to CSW’s (formerly known as Christian Solidarity Worldwide) annual report released in February and covering 2022, there were 657 violations of freedom of religion or belief compared with 272 reported violations in 2021. Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, sentenced in 2022 to seven years in prison on charges of disrespect, assault, criminal incitement, and public disorder, remained in prison at year’s end. Free Yorubas of Cuba (Free Yorubas) leaders and married couple Donaida Perez Paseiro and Loreto Hernandez Garcia also remained in prison through year’s end. Independent media sources reported authorities routinely denied Hernandez Garcia’s family’s request for medical attention for him. Three “Ladies in White” – Sayli Navarro Alvarez, Tania Echevarria Mendez, and Sissi Abascal Zamora – remained in prison for their participation in the 2021 public protests against the government. In March, Abascal’s mother told Radio Television Marti that prison authorities had reduced the three women’s food rations by 50 percent. The government continued to pressure regime critics – including religious leaders – to self-exile. In November, a multidenominational group of church leaders, the Alliance of Christians of Cuba (ACC), issued a public declaration calling for political and religious reform, including for the protection of freedom of religion or belief. Religious groups said the ORA and the MOJ continued to deny official registration to certain religious groups and failed to respond to long-pending applications, such as those for Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church of Jesus Christ).”

“During the year, there were reports of incidents of theft and vandalism of churches, which one cleric described as part of the “growing wave of social indiscipline and societal violence against religious institutions.” In October, representatives of Afro-Cuban, Muslim, Jewish religious communities and Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and evangelical Protestant Christian groups participated in two religious freedom roundtables. State security detained a few participants when traveling to the event, including Pastor Alejandro Hernandez Cepero. Some religious groups and organizations, such as the Catholic charity Caritas, continued to gather and distribute relief items, providing humanitarian assistance to individuals regardless of religious belief.”

“In public statements and on social media, U.S. government officials, including the Secretary of State, continued to call upon the government to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens, including the freedom of religion or belief. In January and July, Department of State and embassy officials raised Pastor Rosales Fajardo’s case with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On October 27, in commemoration of International Religious Freedom Day, the Assistant Secretary for Western Hemispheric Affairs tweeted a call for the Cuban government to release Pastor Rosales Fajardo, who was involved in the 2021 protests and is the pastor of the unregistered nondenominational Monte de Scion Church. Embassy officials met regularly with a range of religious groups concerning the state of religious freedom and political activities related to the religious groups’ beliefs.”

“On December 29, 2023, in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, the Secretary of State designated Cuba a “Country of Particular Concern” for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. For Cuba, existing ongoing restrictions are referenced in 31 CFR 515.201 and the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Helms-Burton Act), pursuant to section 402(c)(5) of the Act.”[2]

Cuban Reactions

As reported by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, “during 2023 at least 936 actions against the exercise of religious freedom took place on the island according to facts documented by that NGO based in Madrid . . . just when the regime had prohibited the holding of Holy Week processions in some locations in the country, such as El Vedado (Havana City) or Bayamo, where one of the most notorious protests occurred on March 17.”

“According to data collected by the OCDH, the violations have targeted ‘publicly identified religious persons’ as well as others who ‘regularly or sporadically attend religious services as an expression of faith or civic commitment.’”

“For example, the NGO documented four summons and interrogations in official offices against members of the Centro de Estudios Convivencia , such as Yoandy Izquierdo Toledo and Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, director of the Christian-inspired institution ‘that promotes thought and proposals for the future of Cuba in different sectors and topics,’ the report indicated.”

“In 2023, numerous relatives of political prisoners denounced the denial of religious assistance in prisons, as in the cases of Roberto Pérez Fonseca and the brothers Nadir and Jorge Martín Perdomo, imprisoned for demonstrating on 11J.”

“The report also included “the cruelty against the Yoruba priest Loreto Hernández García , political prisoner of 11J, who [did] not receive adequate medical care or food in prison in accordance with his sufferings. On June 12, 2023, the religious man was admitted to the Hospital Provincial Clinical Surgical University Arnaldo Milián Castro, of Santa Clara, due to his delicate state of health.”

“The OCDH stated that, as is standard practice of the Cuban regime’s police apparatus, ‘the most frequent repressive actions in this area were arbitrary arrests and the sieging of family homes to prevent attendance at Sunday masses; especially against members of the Ladies in White, who were victims of several hundred anti-religious actions, usually against freedom of worship.’”

“Likewise, in January 2023, the State Security of San José de Las Lajas , in Mayabeque, ‘forbade mothers of imprisoned 9/11 protesters from attending church to pray for the freedom of their loved ones. Layda Jacinto Abad, mother of Aníbal Palau Jacinto; Marta Perdomo, mother of the brothers Jorge and Nadir Martín Perdomo, and Liset Fonseca, mother of Roberto Pérez Fonseca, had announced that they intended to take a weekly Sunday walk to the local Catholic church to demand freedom. of their children.’”

“The OCDH recalled that in its Second Study on Religious Freedom on the Island it determined that 68% of the Cubans consulted knew someone who professes a religion and has been harassed, repressed, threatened or hindered in their daily life for reasons related to that faith.”

“The predominant opinion is that among the main reasons why a believer may suffer harassment, threats or discrimination are ‘having a political position based on their faith’ (59%) and ‘speaking publicly about their faith’ (45%),” the report recalled.”

“The investigation also determined that 68% of believers believe that the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba, the department that controls and directs the repression against religious organizations on the island, violates or represses their rights.”

“’From the study it emerged that the Cuban regime continues to use its surveillance and control systems to limit or persecute any public expression , especially political, of those who assume a civic commitment in accordance with the values of their faith. Likewise, it limits social action and influence. of religious entities or congregations, above all those that demand a greater presence in public spaces and in communities,’ he concluded.”

This Blogger’s Reactions

This blogger is not Cuban, but he is a member of Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, which has had a partnership with a Presbyterian church in Matanzas, Cuba for over 20 years, and he visited that church three times in the early 2000s and has heard reports from other Westminster members who have been there more recently. In addition, Cuban pastors from that Cuban church have visited and preached at our Minneapolis church.[3]

Based on that personal experience, I can testify that there are Cubans who have a strong Christian faith, who participate in the lives of their church and their fellow members and neighbors and who have developed strong connections with Westminster members. I have not heard of any efforts by the Cuban government to restrict their religious faith and practices.

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[1] U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom (June 27, 2024).; The lack of religious freedom persists in Cuba: the US presents its 2023 world report, Diario de Cuba IJune 27, 2024); There were more than 900 violations against the religious freedom of Cubans in 2023, Diario de Cuba (June 27, 2024).

[2] See U.S. Designates Cuba as a “Country of Particular Concern” Regarding Religious Freedom, dwkcommentaries.com (Jan. 8, 2024).

[3] See, e.g., the following ports to dwkcommentaries.com: The Cuban Revolution and Religion, (12/30/11); Praise God for Leading U.S. and Cuba to Reconciliation (12/26/14): Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church Celebrates U.S.-Cuba Reconciliation (1/04/15); Presbyterian Church’s Connections with Cuba (01/13/15); Religious Leaders Support U.S.-Cuba Reconciliation (05/04/15); A Protestant Christian’s Reactions to Pope Francis’ Mission to the Cuban and American People (10/26/15).

U.S. Congressional Hearing About Cuban Private Sector

On June 27, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere of the Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing regarding “The Curse of Socialism in Central America and the Caribbean“ that focused on the Cuban private sector [1]

Testimony of Eric Jacobstein

The lead witness for this hearing was Eric Jacobstein, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department.

He testified that the United States Government is committed to continuing to promote the growth of the private sector in Cuba and supporting the economic well-being of the people, in the face of strengthening Havana’s relations with Moscow and Beijing.”

“Today, more than a third of the Cuban workforce works in one of the more than 11,000 private companies on the Island. The Cuban people still see the United States as a preferred partner. Therefore, we cannot give space to Russia or China and we must continue to encourage private sector growth.”

“The private sector offers ordinary Cubans the opportunity for a better life.”

Testimony of Greg Howell

Also testifying was Greg Howell, the deputy administrator for the Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He said this entity has provided for the training of hundreds of journalists, “whose work in major international media has countered the Cuban regime’s manipulation of information, documenting the difficult conditions on the island and highlighting human rights violations by the [Cuban] Government.”

“For nearly 30 years, across four U.S. administrations, U.S. assistance has helped the people of Cuba in the face of an oppressive government, supporting human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democratic values by strengthening civil society and providing a better access to information.”

USAID, “responding to a request from Cuban authorities, . . provided personal protective equipment for [Cuban] firefighters in September 2022, more than a month after the fire that broke out on August 5 at the Matanzas Supertanker Base and caused the deaths of 17 people, mainly young people who were performing their mandatory military service.

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[1] The US is committed to ‘continuing to promote the growth of the private sector’ in Cuba, Diario de Cuba (June 28, 2024) ;

House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Comm., Subcommittee Hearing Announcement: “The Curse of Socialism in Central America and the Caribbean (June 20, 2024)

House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Comm., Subcommittee Hearing, “The Curse of Socialism in Central America and the Caribbean (June 27, 2024)

U.S. Again Ranks Cuba in Worst Category for Human Trafficking

On June 24, the U.S. State Department released its 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report on human trafficking, whose “severe forms” are defined in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Proetection Act (TVPA) as: “sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” or “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”[1]

U.S. Secretary of State’s Comments

U.S. Seretary of State Antony J. Blinken opened the State Department’s session with the following message:

“Human trafficking is a stain on the conscience of our society. It fuels crime, corruption, and violence. It distorts our economies and harms our workers. And it violates the fundamental right of all people to be free.”
“Around the globe, an estimated 27 million people are exploited for labor, services, and commercial sex. Through force, fraud, and coercion, they are made to toil in fields and factories, in restaurants and residences. Traffickers prey on some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable individuals – profiting from their plight.”
“The State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report provides the world’s most comprehensive assessment of this abhorrent practice, as well as efforts by governments and stakeholders around the globe to combat it. By measuring progress in 188 countries – including the United States – we are advancing President Biden’s commitment to prevent trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and protect survivors.”
“Even as this resource covers long-standing forms and methods of trafficking, it also examines the growing role of technology in both facilitating exploitation and countering it.”
“Digital tools have amplified the reach, scale, and speed of trafficking. Perpetrators use dating apps and online ads to recruit victims. They use online platforms to sell illicit sexual content. They leverage encrypted messaging and digital currencies to evade detection.”
“At the same time, technology is also one of our most powerful tools to combat this enduring scourge. Mobile phones, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence make it possible for advocates and law enforcement to raise greater awareness about the rights of workers and migrants, locate victims and perpetrators of online sexual exploitation, and analyze large amounts of data to detect emerging human trafficking trends.”
“As technology makes it easier for traffickers to operate across geographies and jurisdictions, those of us committed to rooting out this horrendous crime – in government, businesses, civil society – can and must work together and coordinate our efforts.”

U.S. Ambassador at Large’s Comments

Cindy Dyer, the U.S. Ambassor at Large, added comments about this report that focused on the importance of partners (survivors, other governments and non-governmental agencies) in combatting this trafficking.

Ranking of Countries

The report ranked all countries of the world into the following tiers:

“Tier 1 Countries whose governments fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” (30 countries, including the U.S.)
“Tier 2 Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.” (105 countries)
“Tier 2 Watch List. Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and for which:the estimated number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing and the country is not taking proportional concrete actions; or there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims, and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials.” (26 countries)
“Tier 3. Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” In addition, “The TVPA, as amended, lists additional factors to determine whether a country should be on Tier 2 (or Tier 2 Watch List) versus Tier 3: the extent to which the country is a country of origin, transit, or destination for severe forms of trafficking; the extent to which the country’s government does not meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and, in particular, the extent to which officials or government employees have been complicit in severe forms of trafficking; reasonable measures that the government would need to undertake to be in compliance with the minimum standards in light of the government’s resources and capabilities to address and eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons; the extent to which the government is devoting sufficient budgetary resources to investigate and prosecute human trafficking, convict and sentence traffickers; and obtain restitution for victims of human trafficking; and the extent to which the government is devoting sufficient budgetary resources to protect victims and prevent the crime from occurring.” (24 countries, including Cuba. The other countries so ranked are Afghanistan, Algeria, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, Chad, China (People’s Republic of), Curacao, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of ), Macau, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sint Maarten, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.)

Report’s Comments on Cuba

In the section entitled “Topics of Special Interest” the report discussed “Human Trafficking in Cuba’s Labor Export Program.” Here is what it said:

“Each year, the Cuban government sends tens of thousands of workers around the globe under multi-year cooperation agreements negotiated with receiving countries. While medical missions remain the most prevalent, the Cuban government also profited from other similarly coercive labor export programs, including those involving teachers, artists, athletes and coaches, engineers, forestry technicians, and nearly 7,000 merchant mariners worldwide. According to a report published by the Cuban government, by the end of 2023, there were more than 22,000 government-affiliated Cuban workers in over 53 countries, and medical professionals composed 75 percent of its exported workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for medical workers in many places around the world, and the Cuban government used the opportunity to expand its reach by increasing the number of its medical personnel abroad through the Henry Reeve Brigades, which Cuba first initiated in 2005 to respond to natural disasters and epidemics. Experts estimate the Cuban government collects $6 billion to $8 billion annually from its export of services, which includes the medical missions. The labor export program remains the largest foreign revenue source for the Cuban government.”

“There are serious concerns with Cuba’s recruitment and retention practices surrounding the labor export program. While the conditions of each international labor mission vary from country to country, the Cuban government subjects all government-affiliated workers to the same coercive laws. Cuba has a government policy or pattern to profit from forced labor in the labor export program, which includes foreign medical missions. The Cuban government labels workers who leave the program without completing it as “deserters,” a category that under Cuban immigration law deems them as “undesirable.” The government bans workers labeled as “deserters” and “undesirables” from returning to Cuba for eight years, preventing them from visiting their families in Cuba. It categorizes Cuban nationals who do not return to the country within 24 months as having “emigrated.” Individuals who emigrate lose all their citizen protections, rights under Cuban law, and any property they left behind. These government policies and legal provisions, taken together, coerce workers and punish those seeking to exercise freedom of movement. According to credible sources, by 2021, the Cuban government had sanctioned 40,000 professionals under these provisions, and by 2022, there were approximately 5,000 children forcibly separated from their parents due to the government’s policies surrounding the program.”

“Complaints filed with the International Criminal Court and the UN indicate most workers did not volunteer for the program, some never saw a contract or knew their destination, many had their passports confiscated by Cuban officials once they arrived at their destination, and almost all had “minders” or overseers. According to the complaints and survivors, Cuban heads of mission in the country subjected workers to surveillance, prevented them from freely associating with locals, and imposed a strict curfew. Cuba also confiscated between 75 and 90 percent of each worker’s salary. As a result of the well-founded complaints and information about the exploitative nature of Cuba’s labor export program, at the end of 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur for Contemporary Forms of Slavery filed a new communication outlining the persistent concerns with the program, particularly for Cuban workers in Italy, Qatar, and Spain.”

“While exploitation, including forced labor, of workers remains the primary concern with the program, Cuba’s practices can also negatively impact a host country’s healthcare system. Survivors of the program have reported being forced by the Cuban in-country mission director to falsify medical records and misrepresent critical information to justify their presence and need to local authorities. Some individuals reported discarding medications, fabricating names, and documenting medical procedures that never occurred. When medical workers refused to comply with the demands of the Cuban in-country mission director, they faced punishment and retaliation. While the Cuban government promotes workers as highly skilled medical professionals and specialists, these workers often lack adequate medical training to treat complex conditions. These practices are unethical, negligent, exploitative, and risk the lives of those they serve.”

“Governments should make efforts to combat human trafficking, and this includes not purchasing goods or services made or provided with forced labor. Governments that utilize Cuba’s labor export programs despite the serious concerns with the program should at a minimum conduct frequent and unannounced labor inspections to screen these workers for trafficking indicators and employ victim-centered interviewing techniques. These host governments should ensure all Cuban workers are subject to the same laws, regulations, and protections as for other migrant workers and that they are not brought via a negotiated agreement with the Government of Cuba that limits these protections or exempts Cuban workers from Wage Protections Systems or other tools designed to strengthen transparency. Officials should ensure workers maintain complete control of their passports and medical certifications and can provide proof of full salary payment to bank accounts under the workers’ control. They should scrutinize medical reports produced by these workers, offer protection for those who face retaliation and punishment for terminating their employment, and raise awareness of trafficking risks for all foreign workers, including government-affiliated Cuban workers.”

Cuba’s Comments on This Report[2]

On June 24, Granma (the official voice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba) said, “[A lier is] the neighboring government, that one to the north of the archipelago, which, like the naked king in a children’s story, displays its falsehoods about Cuba, without realizing that its shame is in the air; so arrogant is its arrogance.The current U.S. administration arbitrarily insists on keeping Cuba in the worst category (level 3) in its recently published annual State Department report on human trafficking. The actions of the Washington authorities, marked by political motivations, deserved the response, from . . . the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez [who said]:

“The empire has once again listed Cuba in its manipulative report on human trafficking, an outrageous maneuver in the open war against Cuban medical collaboration. Enough cynicism, Secretary Blinken. You are well aware of our zero-tolerance policy for this criminal practice. To justify the action, the report referred to the year 2023 uses contradictory arguments, based on the defamation of the work of Cuban medical collaboration in more than a hundred countries. Cuba’s cooperation with other peoples in the field of health is so humane that they have to attack it. It bothers them that, in the midst of the lordship of perversity and dishonor with which they pretend to dominate the world, the unsubmissive island brings light to the darkness and health to those who suffer.”

“But it is not fortuitous to include Cuba in spurious lists, to consider the island in the worst category in its report on human trafficking allows the White House to justify the blockade and the endless saga of coercive measures aimed at starving its people.”

“It would seem that the world is upside down: those who promote human trafficking, encouraging illegal departures, those who hinder the normal migratory flow between the two nations, are the ones who judge and punish.”

“Those who do not allow – to cite just one example – our baseball players to benefit from an agreement that prevents them from falling into the arms of human traffickers to reach the MLB, are the same ones who seek to condemn those who maintain a zero tolerance policy against human trafficking.”

Conclusion

This is a very complicated report, and the State Department website says, “This posted version is not fully accessible, meaning it may be inaccessible or incompatible with assistive technology. An accessible version will be posted as soon as the ongoing updates are concluded.” (Thus, there may be errors in this post and readers are invited to note any such corrections.)

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[1]U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report (June 2024); The US considers that the regime ‘is not making significant efforts’ to combat human trafficking, Diario de Cuba (June 24, 2024).

[2] Capote, Accusing Cuba of human trafficking, another ruse to justify economic warfare, Granma (June 26, 2024).

World Refugee Day 2024

On June 20 the nations of the world celebrated World Refugee Day. Here was the official U.S. celebration by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.[1]

“On World Refugee Day, the United States reaffirms our longstanding tradition as a beacon of hope for refugees and persecuted people around the globe. We are committed to standing with the millions of refugees worldwide who have been forced to flee violence and persecution, and we thank the generous host communities, vital humanitarian partners, and private sponsors that support them. In FY 2024, the United States has to date welcomed over 65,000 refugees through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and is on track to welcome the most refugees in a single year in the modern history of the program.”

“Refugees make significant positive political, social, and economic contributions to their host and resettlement communities around the world. In the United States, refugees contributed almost $124 billion to the growth of the U.S. economy from 2005-2019. This year, the Administration has continued efforts to rebuild and strengthen USRAP with the unwavering support of partners, including resettlement agencies, resettlement support centers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).”

“Americans throughout the United States have stepped up to do what Americans do best, showing our hospitality to newcomers. Through the Welcome Corps, the USRAP’s private sponsorship program, more than 87,000 Americans in in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have joined together to form sponsorship groups, signing up to welcome refugees into their communities, schools, workplaces, and homes.”

“We also launched the Safe Mobility Initiative, which during the past year has approved more than 30,000 refugees from South and Central America to resettle in communities across the United States, Canada, and Spain. As a result of the Administration’s ongoing diplomacy and assistance, refugees have been able to integrate in host communities around the world and access services, information, and other support to find safety and stability for their families where they are instead of undertaking dangerous journeys to other countries.”

“The United States is a global leader in international humanitarian response. The Department of State, through the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, coordinates with governments, multilateral partners, and the private sector to support refugees and provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection for the most vulnerable. Responsibility sharing is essential to meet humanitarian needs so that all people can live with hope and dignity. No single country can respond alone, and no country is untouched by the impacts of forced displacement. The United States stands together with our partners and refugee communities on this day to honor and support forcibly displaced people around the world.”

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[1] U.S. State Dep’t, Press Statement: On the Occasion of World Refugee Day (June 20, 2024).

Cuban Economist Says Cuba Today Is a Catastrophe

Carmelo Mesa-Lago, a Cuban economist and professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, says tensions between economic and political power make Cuba today a catastrophe.[1]

Since 2019, Cuba’s own data shows average annual decline of 2% in its economy. And its industrial production in 2022 was less than half of what it was in 1989. And agricultural production has experienced an average annual drop of 7.3% between 2016 and 2022 while Cuba does not generate enough exports to pay for imports. This has resulted in Cuban inflation that is among the highest in the world. This requires Cuba to depend on another nation; first it was the Soviet Union, then Venezuela, but both of them had their own problems that interfered with such assistance to Cuba.

The economic and cultural reforms promoted by Raul Castro were well oriented, but they were very slow, loaded with obstacles, high taxes and inspections. Now the egalitarian society is over, but the Government does not talk about it. Instead it blames the private sector while refusing to delegate economic power which would require a delegation of political power.

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[1] Carmelo Mesa-Lago: ’anything you look at, housing, health, education, everything is finished,’ Diario de Cuha (June 11, 2024).

U.S. Believes Cuba Will Attempt to Influence Florida Elections

According to officials at the U.S. Intelligence Community, Cuba will attempt to influence state and local elections in Florida this November by making negative comments about U.S. Congressmen who are hostile to Cuba

This follows reports that Cuba did just that in the 2022 elections.

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The Cuban regime will try to influence the 2024 elections’, warns the US Intelligence Community. Diario de Cuba (June 14, 2024). https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1718365852_55414.html

Cameroonians Making Home in Minnesota

By 2022 an estimated 3,600 Cameroonians called the State of Minnesota home, more than doubling since 2016.[1]

A member of this group, Adrian Abongmbu, who came here around 12 years ago, believes this growth is due to the affordable cost of living here. He said, the costs here are “very moderate. And it’s very family-friendly. It’s easy for people to start their lives in Minnesota.” He, his wife and three children live here and were joined by his mother after she immigrated from Cameroon in 2021. “It’s not uncommon for Cameroonians in the State to encourage family members and friends in other states to move here,” Adrian said.

Another Cameroonian resident of Minnesota, Florence Wanda and her husband run a nonprofit for education and heritage preservation that this September will host the Minnesota African Cultural Festival while her daughter, Modoh, is chief executive officer of the state’s first African Fashion Week.

Yet another Cameroonian resident of this State, Manka Nkimbeng, is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a member of her tribe’s Cultural and Development Association. She recently participated in a Mother’s Day event in St. Paul while taking a limo ride around the city.

In 2022 more than 89,000 people in the U.S. reported Cameroon as their place of birth. Those without U.S. documentation are eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through June 2025. The U.S. Government can extend that designation if their home country is determined still to be unsafe for deportation although that status does not provide a path for U.S. citizenship.

This blogger’s church in downtown Minneapolis, Westminster Presbyterian, has a small group of Cameroonian members, who inspired the church to establish a global partnership with a Presbyterian church in that country.

And a former Westminster Senior Pastor, Rev. Arnold Lowe (1941-1965) after his ordination in 1912 had served as a missionary in Kamerun when it was a German colony, and his daughter made a significant financial gift in his honor to the Presbyterian seminary in Cameroon.

This blogger enjoyed a trip to visit that church and seminary and learn more about the country, which has been undergoing a challenging time over disputes between the French-speaking majority (Francophones) and the English-speaking minority (Anglophones) as a result of those countries assuming responsibility for that country after Germany was stripped of its African colonies after World War I by the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.[2]

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[1] Ansari & Tu, Though small in numbers, Cameroonians are beginning to make a mark in Minnesota. StarTribune (June 8, 2024).

[2] See List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CAMEROON; Kamerun, Wikipedia. See also “A Preacher for the times; THE REVEREND ARNOLD LOWE” (pp. 84-91) in LIVING FAITH: Stories from the first 150 years, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1857-2007, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Economist” Magazine Also Predicts Lower World Population

Last month this blogger was surprised to learn about forecasted declines in world population and the resulting challenges of coping with such changes.[1] And earlier this week this blogger was also surprised to discover that due to the aging and forecasted retirement of many U.S. primary- care physicians, the U.S. will need to recruit foreign physicians to move to the U.S. and practice here and hence U.S. laws will have to be amended and supplemented to facilitate such transfers.[2]

This discussion has been joined by The Economist from London with an editorial and an article about the global challenge of low birth rates and the resulting aging and declining population around the world.

The Editorial[3]

Here is the Editorial’s headline: “Cash for kids—Baby-boosting policies won’t work. Economies must adapt to baby busts instead.” Here are its points:

“As birth rates plunge, many politicians want to pour money into policies that might lead women to have more babies. . . . Yet all these attempts are likely to fail, because they are built on a misapprehension.”
“Governments’ concern is understandable. Fertility rates are falling nearly everywhere , and the rich world faces a severe shortage of babies. . . . Every rich country except Israel has a fertility rate beneath the replacement rate of 2.1 at which a population is stable without immigration. . . . They will bring profound social and economic change.”
“Ageing and shrinking societies will probably lose dynamism and military might. They will certainly face a budgetary nightmare, as taxpayers struggle to finance the pensions and health care of legions of oldies.”
“[G]overnments are wrong to think it is within their power to boost fertility rates. . . [S]uch policies are founded on a false diagnosis of what has so fared caused demographic decline.. . . [T]hey could cost more than the problems they are designed to solve.”
“The bulk of the decline in the fertility rate in rich countries is among the younger, poorer women who are delaying when they start to have children, and who therefore have fewer overall. . . . [But] focusing [pronatal policies on this group] would be bad for them and for society.”
“High-skilled immigration can plug fiscal gaps. But not indefinitely, given that fertility is falling globally. . . Welfare states will need rethinking: older people will have to work later in life. . . . the invention and adoption of new technologies will need to be encouraged. . . . New household technologies may help parents. . . . Baby-boosting policies . . . are a costly and socially retrograde mistake.”

The Article[4]

The Economist article says, “The world faces a shortage of babies. Among rich countries, only Israel is having enough babies to stop its population from shrinking, and in most places birth rates are falling . . . . As a consequence, the great and the good are growingly worried.”

Hence, “almost every rich country is thus considering increasing its pro-natal efforts, as are many middle-income ones.” However, pro-natal policies backed by government subsidies to parents have not been successful in boosting the number of births. “Attempting to encourage middle-class women to have more children is therefore unlikely to be successful. . . . Younger and working-class women probably offer policymakers the best chance of higher birth rates. Indeed, some programs are now beginning to explicitly target them.”

However, “the financial benefits of pro-natal policies aimed at working-class women would probably be overwhelmed by their costs.”

Conclusion

Are there any errors in the preceding analyses and conclusions? How do we all cope with this situation? Have any other publications discussed these issues?

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[1] Will the World’s Population Cease To Expand?, dwkcommentaries.com (May 16, 2024).

[2] Foreign Physicians Needed To Solve U.S. Doctor Shortage, dwkcommentaries.com (June 1, 2024).

[3] Editorial, Cash for kids. Baby-boosting policies won’t work. Economies must adept to baby busts instead,The Economist at 9 (May 25, 2024).

[4] The pro-natalist turn: Putting a price on them, The Economist at 60 (May 25, 2024).

DFrente Cuba Says New U.S. Regulations May Help Reduce Cuban Inflation

On May 31, DFrente, a Cuban organization that seeks the refoundation of the Republic of Cuba, claims the new U.S. regulations regarding Cuba’s private enterprise sector may help reduce Cuban inflation.[1]

Its statement asserted that the new Regulations “offer a horizon of empowerment to the emerging MSMEs of the Island . These could achieve better access to computer services that are the central column of the functioning of contemporary economies; fluid access to the North American market; and allow a greater flow of foreign currency to Cuba, which would translate into an increase in remittances and therefore liquidity in the country.”

The organization also said the new Regulations “could contribute to mitigating inflation problems, facilitate the ability to import basic products that are so urgent today for our population, and perhaps untie some ‘knots’ that limit production.”

The new Regulations “could in some way affect the improvement of the very poor living conditions of the vast majority of Cubans.” DFrente, therefore, demanded that “the Cuban Government complete and implement the Business Law announced since 2022, and “that it remove all the obstacles that the Government itself imposes on the nascent private business community, on foreign investment and on the establishment of an effective economic model, in short, on the prosperity of the entire nation.”

The D’Frente statement continued: “There will be no definitive solution without the State returning sovereignty to the people, so that individual and social freedom can become the soul of the Republic that we deserve.”

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[1] Declaration de Dfrente About the Recent Regulations of the Biden Administration (May 31, 2024); Dfrente Platform on new US measures: ‘they could help mitigate inflation problems’, Diario de Cuba (May 31, 2024)