‘The clinical development program of Soberana 01 (vaccine candidate against Covid-19) includes the assessment in convalescents, a population that has not been in the target of vaccines,’ highlighted on Twitter the director of Research of the Finlay Institute of Vaccines, Dagmar Garcia.

Covid-19 cases who had been reinfected by the novel coronavirus have been reported worldwide, even with much more acute and severe forms of the disease; therefore, the country also seeks to protect this risk group.

The trial, to stimulate protective levels of neutralizing antibodies against possible reinfection, began on January 9 with the participation of 30 volunteers, aged 19 to 59 years, who were in contact with the novel coronavirus and currently have a negative PCR.

Those subjects received on January 16 a single dose of one of the Soberana 01 vaccine candidate formulations, and since then, they have been followed up in consultations and through direct contact with the researchers.

Dr. Rolando Felipe Ochoa, specialist in Immunology of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, explained that the formulation used for this clinical trial is simpler and safer, according to the characteristics of the population group studied.

Experts take into account those people have already been vaccinated in a natural way (by having caught the virus) for administrating an adequate dose of the the vaccine candidate.

Thus, the dose would be a reinforcement of the immunity of the individual, said Dr. Arturo Chang, specialist in General Integral Medicine of the Institute of Hematology and Immunology, the center where the trial is being developed.

Chang advanced that if positive results are achieved in this phase, they will probably move on to a clinical trial with a larger number of subjects to assess the immunogenicity, efficacy and effectiveness of the product.

Cuba has four vaccine candidates against Covid-19: Sovereigns 01 and 02, from the Finlay Vaccine Institute; as well as Mambisa and Abdala, from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)

But when these suppliers were acquired by the U.S. company Vyaire Medical Inc. both firms cancelled their commercial relations with Cuba, submitting to the provisions of the criminal economic blockade imposed by the United States on our country six decades ago.

It was then that the country’s leadership entrusted to the Cuban Neuroscience Center (Cneuro) the mission of developing a ventilator in record time, to ensure that no one would be left without this vital means of emergency medical assistance, should he or she need it.

The plan required putting together a multidisciplinary team of specialists from Cneuro, the Union of Military Industries’ Grito de Baire facility, the Combiomed Digital Medical Technology Enterprise, the Center for the State Control of Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed) and the National Design Office (ONDI).

Dr. Mitchell Valdés Sosa, general director of Cuba’s Neurosciences Center, answered a few questions about the innovative project.

What types of ventilators have been developed and how are they used?

We have worked on two models of pulmonary ventilators: one basic invasive model and a non-invasive one. The first of these, called Pcuvente, is an automatic device designed for emergency ventilation for short, uninterrupted periods of time.

It is suitable for Intensive Care Units (ICU) or post-surgical recovery rooms, and during transfer in or out of the hospital. It allows for controlled and assisted volumetric ventilation, and uses a battery, which provides independent functioning for more than an hour.

With the non-invasive ventilator, the patient breathes spontaneously within an air pressure environment higher than the atmospheric level, with the generation of a continuous positive air pressure flow to the airway, so it is not necessary to intubate the patient.

It is designated for use primarily in cases of mild respiratory distress, contributing to improvement of alveolar ventilation and, above all, reduces the frequency of intubation. It is currently in the development stage.

Can the Pcuvente be used in treating COVID-19 patients?

Since it is a basic ventilator, which only includes the volumetric form of ventilation, and given the severity with which COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome usually develops, its use is not recommended for patients with this disease.

However, its introduction in intensive care units (ICU) can provide coverage for cases with less severe respiratory distress and high-end ventilators can be redirected to serve patients with COVID-19, reducing the chances of ICU collapse due to a lack of pulmonary ventilators. It has been approved by Cecmed for use in post-surgical recovery rooms and testing in intensive care is being conducted at this time.

We plan to manufacture 250 units, of which 77 have already been delivered to the national public health system. An equal number of non-invasive ventilators will also be produced.

It should be noted that the design of the first model is based on open codes published on the internet by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the United States; while the noninvasive ventilator was based on open codes made available on the net by University College London. But the software and the industrial design are the work of Cuban experts.

How long did this take?

The design and development process began in the last days of March 2020, and by June, we had a prototype ready for animal testing. In October we began the human trials, that is, only six months after the project was conceived.

How have the ventilators been certified?

They underwent several stages of testing. First, their operation was studied in animals (pigs), specifically to evaluate their safety during ventilation.

The device provided adequate alveolar ventilation, maintaining arterial oxygenation. Respiratory effort was reduced and no manifestations of bronchial spasms or hemodynamic instability occurred in the sedated animal.

We then moved to studies with patients, which required obtaining an emergency use permit from Cecmed. The trials were conducted at the Manuel Fajardo, Miguel Enriquez, and Calixto Garcia hospitals, and included 16 patients in anesthesia recovery, in which the ventilator proved to be safe (no adverse events were identified during the time of the trial) and effective in replacing natural respiratory functioning.

Based on the results observed, in December of 2020 Cecmed granted a special-purpose use authorization, specifically in anesthesia recovery rooms. Although this is not an application directly associated with COVID-19, it frees up more sophisticated ventilators that can be redirected to intensive care units.

The design, development, production and introduction of the Pcuvente in such a short time would not have been possible without the multidisciplinary and multi-institutional alliance created for this purpose.

Equally noteworthy is the role of all the hospitals mentioned, as well as the contribution made by Dr. Juan Carlos Rivero López, head of the Provincial Group and secretary of the National Intensive Care Group, who has served as the clinical investigator responsible for the preclinical and human studies, and has accompanied the Cneuro team from the earliest stages of the project.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

The Neuronic/Pcuvente v 1.0 emergency pulmonary ventilator is the result of a commendable effort by engineers and technicians at the Cuban Neurosciences Center, in collaboration with other enterprises and institutions in the country. They have produced an emergency pulmonary ventilator based on mechanical and automatic compression of a self-inflating resuscitator, originally for manual use, which can be used in the event of acute respiratory failure, when the patient is short of breath or very distressed, requiring support for a short period of time. This model can be used with adult patients who have been intubated previously via an endotracheal tube and are not on a conventional mechanical pulmonary ventilator. The Pcuvente was authorized by Cecmed for use in post-surgical patients with shortness of breath or respiratory depression in post-anesthesia recovery rooms, by personnel qualified in resuscitation, and trained in its use under the supervision of an anesthesiologist, critical care or emergency room physician. (Dr. Humberto Sainz, head of the National Expert Group on Anesthesiology and Resuscitation of the Ministry of Public Health, and Cecmed expert evaluator of medical equipment and devices)

Engineer and Master of Science Arlem Lesmes Fernández Sigler, director of the Combiomed Digital Medical Technology Enterprise, reports that work is underway on the development of a third high performance pulmonary ventilator, to be used in ICU with COVID-19 patients in serious or critical condition, or who have other types of complications. This is, he stated, the most complex project undertaken by the company in its more than 35 years of work in the field of medical technology, and specifically in its more than 25 years of experience in creating equipment for monitoring patients and life support in our country. This Cuban high-end pulmonary ventilator will incorporate the features of standard ventilations available worldwide, and will offer attractive and safe visualization, operation and connectivity options. All the electronic, pneumatic, mechanical, industrial, graphic, firmware and software design solutions are the work of Cuban science. The first prototypes are expected to be ready in March, and will be introduced in our National Public Health System later in the year, after necessary, compulsory testing has been completed to confirm their safety and effectiveness, as part of the process for sanitary registration in Cuba. This ventilator should play an important role in replacing imports, with a cost less than half of the price for similar models on the international market, while also representing potential for export.

(Taken from Granma)

According to Dr. Angelina Díaz García, director of the Center for Advanced Studies, the development involves the laboratory reagent that allows for extracting the genetic material, which is an essential step in PCR testing for COVID-19.

Dr. Diaz reported that the Cuban version was evaluated at the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine, and was found to function in 100% concordance with imported kits, and meets all regulatory requirements.

She announced the commitment to produce kits for 20,000 daily extractions, this year, with several institutions participating, including self-employed workers.

Cuba has developed the production of swabs for sample taking, a transport medium for collection and transfer of samples, and now this diagnostic.

Dr. Rolando Pérez Rodríguez, BioCubaFarma’s director for Science and Innovation, stated that the goal is to produce a complete diagnostic system.

These capacities, he clarified, will not only facilitate testing for COVID-19, but for a variety of viral and bacterial infections, as well as chronic non-transmissible diseases, including cancer. The project, which should be completed in 2022, is directed toward producing everything required for molecular diagnosis, he said.

(Taken from Granma)

The speech President Miguel Díaz-Canel presented to the National Assembly of People’s Power, as 2019 drew to a close, identified several priorities that any citizen can use to determine to what extent projected goals were met, during the 365 days of 2020. These include:

-Survive the ferocity and insanity of the economic, commercial and financial U.S. blockade imposed on Cuba.

-Adopt all necessary measures to neutralize interventionist U.S. plans; protect the population’s security and wellbeing; safeguard national unity and defend the country’s sovereignty and independence.

-Maintain solidarity and cooperation with countries on all five continents – especially Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico and Argentina in our region, as well as Russia, China and Vietnam, on the other side of the world.

-Achieve economic growth of 1%.

-Advance in the implementation of monetary re-ordering.

-Make progress on the established legislative agenda.

-Combat disrespect for the law, bureaucratism, accommodation, inertia and apathy.

It was clear then, and is clear now that, although the country has many priorities, defense, the economy and the wellbeing of the people constitute the nation’s vital triad, let’s say its locomotive.

But in 2020 the Cuban economy, which has yet to overcome the impact of the blockade in the previous period, declined by 11%, noticeably evident in the production and sales of food, in the population’s income, the limited fuel supply, empty stores, etc.

The tightening of the blockade reached an exasperating level; the crisis provoked by COVID-19 around the world, with its consequent impact on productive chains that tie nations to each other, along with the spread of the disease on the island, delivered the final blow in a year that we knew would be difficult. No one suspected, however, just how hard it would be.

Nonetheless, the government assumed the challenge of announcing the initiation of the Ordering Task, January 1, 2021, with which important pending agreements reached during the Sixth and Seventh Party Congresses are being implemented, to get the national economy on track.

When addressing the National Assembly this most recent December, the President recalled, “A year ago, from this same podium, we said: They threw us to our death and we are alive! We imagined, at the time, that nothing could be worse than that escalation of measures to tighten the imperialist blockade and attack the sources of our energy supply, our medical brigades and any option of financing.”

Seconds later he added, “Cuba Viva rose above our own possibilities,” insisting on living and triumphing.

This year, amidst so much adversity, meeting any objective required daily feats, especially the most important that became the center and heart of the government’s work: protecting the people’s health.

GOVERNMENT ACTION TO CONFRONT COVID-19

An article on the government’s work and the role of Cuban science in combating COVID-19 was published in the June issue of the Cuban Academy of Sciences’ journal Anales, written by President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and Jorge Núñez Jover, dean of the Science, Technology, and Society department at the University of Havana.

Noted in the text is that January 30, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus epidemic, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Party Central Committee, called for the development of a national strategy to address the health emergency.

Likewise, the Council of Ministers approved a Coronavirus Prevention and Control Plan January 29, and February 12, the COVID-19 scientific advisory group was established.

The national task force charged with directing implementation of the plan met daily, led by the President and Prime Minister, and on a weekly basis, the country’s leadership met with experts and scientists to evaluate the results of research being conducted and the application of findings.

Provincial Civil Defense Councils were activated and regular daily press conferences were organized to inform the population of the epidemic’s impact and the new Coronavirus Prevention and Control Plan’s implementation.

Also included in the plan were weekly sessions of the Economic Advisory Group, during which issues related to the country’s social-economic development strategy in the new context were addressed, as well as participation by ministers and experts in the Cuban television program

Mesas Redonda, to broadly disseminate information related to the health emergency.

During this stage, also approved and implemented was the post-COVID-19 recovery strategy, and work began on a social-economic strategy for strengthening of the economy to face an extended period of crisis.

As a direct result of this leadership plan and the joint work of the government and health authorities, developed were mathematical models to make projections regarding the epidemic’s evolution, a system of geolocation and mapping of areas at high epidemiological-clinical risk, highlighting the percentage of the population over 59 years of age in different locations across the nation.

The analysis and approval of an average of 8.3 research projects a week; the development of four candidate vaccines; the elaboration and generalization of Cuba’s Model for Clinical-Epidemiological Response and Control of COVID-19; plus the approval and implementation of a protocol for treatment of convalescent patients, also constitute achievements of this comprehensive, well-coordinated strategy.

CUBA’S AGENDA BEYOND COVID-19

Nevertheless, Cuba did much more beyond combating COVID-19. Displaying a praise-worthy ability to extend itself, the country’s leadership maintained the previously established practice of conducting government visits to all of the country’s provinces. Las Tunas, Sancti Spíritus, Artemisa, Cienfuegos and Mayabeque were the first visited by teams led by the President to review progress made in local development efforts and obstacles encountered. The tour of Santiago de Cuba that has been cut short the end of March was rescheduled, with the Council of Ministers visiting every municipality in the province, as reported on the Presidency’s website.

As part of an evaluation of the country’s industrial-productive capacity, government teams additionally conducted visits in Matanzas, the Isle of Youth and Havana.

During the first three months of the year, the President toured important sites including the Varona Metal Works in Havana, the new studios of the multi-national television network TeleSUR in the Cuban capital, and several universities, attending the inauguration of the 29th International Book Fair, as well.

Through September, in an effort to control propagation of the SARS-COV-2 virus, no further government meetings were held, beyond those focused on the pandemic.

But in October, Cuba returned to its intense international agenda, which had been concentrated on maintaining communication with authorities in China and other countries committed to the COVID battle.

President Díaz-Canel participated virtually in the United Nations General Assembly’s 75th period of sessions, and in the December session devoted to the pandemic.

He took part as well in the 38th period of sessions of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); the Climate Summit; the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Conference; the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) Summit commemorating the 16th anniversary of this bloc; as well as the recently held virtual Cuba-Caribbean Community Summit.

During the closure of the Sixth Ordinary Period of Sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power Ninth Legislature, President Diaz-Canel condemned the markedly aggressive, unilateral foreign policy of the United States which has aggravated threats to peace, security and multi-lateral mechanisms.

He concluded his remarks summarizing, in a few words, Cuba’s great commitment to life:

“Sooner or later, the history of this disastrous pandemic and its global impact will be written. If it is written honestly, it will be impossible to overlook the role of Cuba and the thousands of Cubans who voluntarily traveled to other lands to confront the danger and honor the Hippocratic Code that accompanies our dedicated health workers in their consciences and hearts.”

ATTENTION TO PRIORITIZED PROGRAMS MAINTAINED

According to Presidencia.gov.cu, programs directly addressed by the President of the Republic in 2020 include:

-COVID-19 Prevention and Control Plan

-Historical Memory Program

-Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education Plan

-Employment, Salary and Social Security Program

-Mother and Child Program (pami)

-Recovery and Development of Railroads Program

-Social Protection for Individuals Prone to Wandering

-National Program against Racism and Discrimination

-National Program for the Advancement of Women

-Industry Program

-Strategy for the Development of Cuban Baseball

-Housing Construction Program

-Sugar Industry Program

-Foreign Investment

-Energy and tourism programs

-Water Distribution Development through 2030

-Demographic Dynamics Program

-Food Program

-Program for the Computerization of Cuban Society

-Support for the Capital: Housing construction, the Malecón Plan, and conceptual work on plans for the Comprehensive Development of Guanabacoa’s Central Historical District

(Taken from Granma)

This effort, in addition to talent and dedication, has required novel organizational mechanisms, including the innovation committee coordinated by representatives from the Ministry of Public Health and BioCubaFarma; coherent work systems; joint action; regular interaction between government and the scientific community, the authors noted. All of which, they argue, has allowed for an integrated social, scientific, political and sanitary response capable of confronting the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“This experience suggests that science-government unity must constitute a regular work practice, a model that, with the incorporation of every situation’s particularities, must be employed to confront the most important tasks required to advance our development. Science-government articulation is also key to successfully addressing another of the great challenges the nation faces: stimulating local development,” they state.

According to the article, over the last decade, two tendencies related to this issue, discussed here, have been noted. On the one hand, they indicate, local development has become an important element of the Cuban social and economic development model. And on the other, the Ministry of Higher Education has included local development as a priority objective in its strategic plan for the period 2012-2020 and is interacting with many actors, programs and projects working toward this end.

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: A PUBLIC POLICY OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

Addressing the issue, the President and the higher educational advisor emphasize that this premise is established in no.17 of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution for the period 2016-2021, which notes the necessity of stimulating local development in accordance with national strategies, to strengthen municipalities as the fundamental level of the economy, with the needed autonomy, sustainability, and productive foundation, and the need to reduce major disparities among these, taking advantage of all potential.

They additionally note that, in accordance with the legal framework outlined in Article 168 of the Constitution of the Republic, the municipality constitutes the primary political-administrative unit and foundation of national organization. Likewise, territorial development is incorporated in the National Economic and Social Development Plan through 2030.

“Given all of the above, it can be stated that local development constitutes a public policy of strategic importance that holds a central place on the agendas of governments at the municipal and provincial levels, and also demands action on the part of Central State Administration agencies, the Council of Ministers, and the Presidency of the country, itself,” the article states.

Nonetheless, the authors note, the territorial development policy – elaborated with the participation of academics and currently in the process of approval – contains an assessment which, among other aspects, indicates that a comprehensive conception of local development, its mechanisms and management tools, widely accepted at the institutional level, does not exist.

On the basis of this reality, several needed steps were identified, including:

-Ensure progress in capacity building that will allow for strategic conduction of local development processes, in particular the management of projects that strengthen the productive base of municipalities and generate wellbeing for the population.

-Promote systematic policies of innovation at the local level, and in line with these, prioritize the training of the skilled workforce needed to implement municipal development strategies.

-Facilitate multi-level dialogue to support joint action at the national, provincial and municipal levels, thus reinforcing unity and counteracting excessively sectoral, vertical, or centralized thinking. This dialogue likewise requires an adequate legal and normative framework, and the strengthening of cognitive, scientific, and technological capacity at the local level.

HIGHER EDUCATION’S CONTRIBUTION KEY TO LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Science and innovation, computerization and social communication are fundamental to the Cuban government’s work, and making their contributions in a unified manner have made this clearly evident in the battle against COVID-19, the authors note.

In a similar fashion, universities are expected to make a significant contribution to processes of innovation – technologically in the strictest sense, as well as socially and organizationally, among other ways. Likewise, government and state cadres must be prepared to act as conscious promoters of the contributions science, technology and innovation can make in solving the problems of development that every sector and territory face.

“Given this perspective, the most important expression of the ties between higher education and government in advancing local development are those constructed within systems of innovation in provinces, municipalities, and communities throughout the country.”

This local effort, however, can benefit as well from action taken by the national government that provides support, and from the public policy followed consistently by the Ministry of Higher Education in favor of local development, the authors argue, while recognizing that there are many problems yet to be resolved.

“For example, the issue of training human resources, the management of knowledge and innovation, are subjects that are not always given the priority they deserve in municipal and provincial development strategies.

“Systematic processes of innovation are not generalized. While excellent examples exist of government-higher education alliances in a number of municipalities, others have fallen behind. The road is long and winding, but the government-science alliance at this level also appears to be a promising model,” they affirm.

In their article, the President and Aurora Fernández also assert that national government visits to the provinces have shown positive results, facilitating multi-level dialogue and strengthening ties between education – especially universities – Central State Administration agencies and enterprises, all critical to local development.

The basic objective of these visits has been to analyze the current and perspective state of the province’s main development programs, holding conversations with cadres, workers, and the people in general. During these exchanges, decisive issues have been debated, including food production; housing construction; transportation; computerization; confronting corruption and illicit activity; strengthening state enterprises and creating productive chains with foreign investment projects, joint ventures, the cooperative and private sectors; as well as promoting foreign investment, among other questions.

“In particular, with much emphasis, the importance of turning to scientific research, science, innovation, computerization and communication has been insisted upon, as pillars of government policy, to find solutions to the most dissimilar problems,” the authors report.

Thus the role of science and innovation, in particular the contribution of universities, has been emphasized, with the intention of having direct economic and social impact, especially in advancing local development.

IN CONCLUSION

The country’s government has assumed the task of making science-government ties a key element in its development strategy. Higher education is positioning itself as an important actor in the process of production, dissemination and use of the knowledge which local development requires and is increasingly functioning as a key ally of governments implementing local development strategies.

The creation of municipal higher education centers, articulated with universities, offer significant opportunities in this regard. National government visits to territories have contributed to strengthening universities’ ties with both national and regional actors and promoted innovative dynamics with an impact on local development.

These ties between government and science must be consolidated, the authors insist, with the purpose of finding effective, innovative solutions to all of the country’s development problems.

In the offices of the Finlay Institute’s research and development department, in Havana, the President was able to confirm progress being made in efforts to develop a specific vaccine to prevent COVID-19 and emphasized his confidence in the response of Cuban science to the challenge.

The Institute’s general director, Vicente Vérez Bencomo, explained details of the different stages of the research process, which includes work by scientists at the Molecular Immunology Center and the University of Havana, as well, and added that the investigation’s findings will be announced shortly.

During the lively discussion, the President and researchers’ previous meeting was recalled. At that gathering, held May 19 at the Cuban Neurosciences Center, Díaz-Canel stated, “Although there may be vaccines from other countries, we need our own, to have sovereignty.”

Cuba’s scientists wasted no time in taking this path, more necessary than ever, amidst a new outbreak of COVID-19, with an increasing number of widely dispersed cases, especially in the provinces of Havana and Artemisa.

(Source: Granma)

For his part, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s director for the United States, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, condemned the introduction of this proposal to reactivate the program, and commented on the Senators’ initiative on his Twitter account, “Impotent resentment of Cuba has no limits. Unable to detain our recognized professional human development, quality baseball, and investment potential, Bob Menéndez and Rubio want to restore the brain drain program to steal Cuban doctors,” Cossío tweeted.

The project consisted of granting visas to doctors and other Cuban health personnel working abroad in the country’s international missions. The parole program was part of the arsenal of measures used to deprive the country of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in a virtual international operation of brain theft promoted by the U.S. government, created in 2006 by George W. Bush, although its origins date back to the early days of the Revolution, when Cuba was left with half of the doctors it had in 1959. The program applies only to Cubans.

The program was suspended on January 12, 2017, eight days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, along with the wet foot–dry foot policy, in an effort to promote regular, safe, orderly migration between the two countries. The Senators now brazenly accuse Cuban medical services, which have saved hundreds of thousands of lives around the world, of “human trafficking,” and are seeking to restore the refugee program for physicians who “escape” from official Cuban missions abroad. At the same time, they requested that the State Department toughen up Cuba’s classification in its annual report on human trafficking in the world.

On July 11, 2018, a new round of migratory talks was held in Washington between delegations from the two countries.

Both parties acknowledged the benefits of the Joint Declaration of January 12, 2017, in particular the elimination of the “wet foot-dry foot” policy and the “Parole Program for Cuban Medical Professionals” in the reduction of irregular emigration. They also agreed on the usefulness of the exchange between border control troops and the Coast Guard held in January 2018, and the technical meeting on trafficking in persons and immigration fraud held in December of 2017.

During these talks, compliance with bilateral agreements was reviewed, in order to guarantee regular, safe, orderly migration; discourage irregular migration; as well as prevent and confront related illicit activity. Cuba demonstrated that the country is strictly complying with its obligations, and reiterated its willingness to maintain and expand bilateral cooperation in this area.

The Cuban delegation urged the U.S. government to fully comply with its commitments to issue visas for migrants, in accordance with the Migration Agreements; and noted that the decision to suspend visa processing services at the embassy in Havana directly affects migratory relations, family ties, damaging institutional exchanges and travel between the two countries. On the other hand, concern was expressed about the Cuban Adjustment Act, which, along with other U.S. regulations, encourages irregular emigration of Cubans and exposes them to the risk of becoming victims of illegal traffickers and gangs associated with organized crime.

(Granma)