COMING AND GOING

Washington Post
Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page P01


EMBARGO watch

Sex in Cuba?

At a recent briefing, President Bush announced he was cracking down on travel to Cuba because of the government's "brutal oppression" and to thwart what he called a "rapidly growing illicit sex trade" that is "encouraged by the Cuban government."

CoGo was surprised to hear the latter. On a trip last spring, there was no evidence of an open sex trade, let alone anything like the markets in downtown Bangkok. In fact, Cubans complained to CoGo that they had to have a date to go to the best clubs -- a rule they said was to keep sex  hustlers from seeking partners at clubs that attract foreigners. Plus, advocates of the U.S. travel ban have long complained that Cubans are prohibited from hotels and beaches frequented by foreigners.

So what's the evidence? The State Department's 2003 "Trafficking in Persons" report, said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan. The report lists 80 countries as having a human exploitation problem. Cuba is on the list, as is the host of next summer's Olympics, Greece.

CoGo turned to the World Wide Web and found that while sex is for sale everywhere, including Cuba, sex tour operators most frequently extoll Thailand and Brazil. In the pedophile category, Brazil, India and Thailand lead the pack; Brazil alone has a half-million kids in the sex trade, according to the group ECPAT, whose full name describes its mission: End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children. Cuba,ECPAT said, has fewer underage kids in the sex trade than any country in the region.

U.S.-Cuban relations were already shaky. The response to the latestaccusation:

"It's incredible -- a big lie,"

said Lazaro Herrara, spokesman  for the Cuban Interest Section in D.C.