Cuba rejects US accusation over human trafficking

HAVANA - Cuba on Saturday dismissed a US report which put the island nation on a black list of "human trafficking countries."

"The Cuban government rejects categorically as unfounded this unilateral move offending our people," Josefina Vidal, director-general of the US Department at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

"Cuba has not requested the US assessment, nor needed recommendations from the United States, a country with the gravest problem on trafficking children and women in the world," the statement said.

About 200,000 Americans are believed to have been trafficked within the United States, according to the statement.

The US State Department released its annual report on Friday with a list of 189 countries ranked by the level of compliance with the Law on Protection of Victims of Trafficking.

Cuba was blacklisted among 23 countries for failing to meet the standards against human trafficking. Cuba's official Granma newspaper described the US report as "manipulative" and "politically motivated."