Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Díaz Sotolongo denounced the US Report on the issue and said Washington is seeking to cast a shadow on the protective programes developed by the Cuban revolution, aimed at taking care of and protecting children and adolescents, as provided by Article 40 of Cuba's Constitution.
The justice minister referred to the report presented by US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday. Diaz Sotolongo denied any accusation from the US government that Cuba is promoting human smuggling and sexual tourism.
Journalists participating in a televised roundtable in Havana agreed that the report is part of Washington's fresh strategy to support a presidential reelection. The current US adminsitration is becoming growingly agressive towards Cuba, trying to teach lessons on something it cannot apply in its own country. The report does not mention what is happening within the United States territory.
Cuba has been included in several lists the current US government uses to measure other countries's behaviour on democracy and religious freedom and the fight against drug trafficking.
Washington's report is nothing but a mere means to justifiy the economic blockade on Cuba, in force for more than 40 years and condemned by the international community.
Among its fabricated charges, the document states that Cuba offers its tourist resorts for prostitution and deems as "forced labor" the Cuban program to link study and work in its educational system.
Mirian Yanet Martín, president of the Organización de Pioneros José Martí (elementary and junior high education organization), said that some 142,000 public school students in South Florida cannot read and write, while there is a 6,000 annual deficit of teachers.
Martín highlighted the commitment by the Cuban government to carry on with some 170 social projects, most of them addressing the needs of the new generations.
