Peter Krupa

Some Cuban refugees have filed a civil suit under the Alien Torts Statute against a Curacao dry dock, alledging that they were used as slave labor to clean and repair ships. The Cubans say (full court complaint here, in PDF) they were forced by the Cuban government to travel to Curacao and work ungodly long hours under harsh conditions for $16 a month (about 3.5 cents per hour).

For those of us who follow Cuba, this is nothing new, and it’s part of the reason the US keeps its trade embargo in place. In its efforts to collect hard currency, the Cuban government - in all of its revolutionary, anti-capitalist grandeur - regularly rents out its labor force to foreign businesses and pockets the proceeds.

It would be hilarious, the irony, if it weren’t just horribly sad.