Overview
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s Latin America Studies and Programs Center promotes individual freedom, respect for human rights, and democracy throughout Latin America, but especially Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Our researchers document human rights abuses, support in-region civil society and pro-democracy groups, and educate the American public and U.S. policy makers about the realities on the ground.
Programs
The Castro regime has developed sophisticated human trafficking and forced labor schemes to exploit the Cuban people, with emphasis on health personnel. The Cuban regime, in collusion with international communist allies, sends Communist Medical Brigades overseas to sell health care services for propaganda purposes. Communist commissaries and secret police agents oversee the Communist Medical Brigades’ workers and regularly confiscate between 75% and 90% of their wages. VOC’s Latin America Programs advocate for the rights of these workers, conducting research on Trafficking in Medical Personnel (TIMP) and providing legal assistance to these victims of communism.
Publications
On November 30, 2024, Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas died in a Cuban prison, officially attributed to asphyxiation from hanging. However, Manuel’s body and his clothes bore signs of torture, including muddy footprints and urine-soaked pants. In the video that…
On Monday, December 2, the Latin America Program’s team participated at an open meeting at the Organization of American States to present a report on Transnational Repression. They were joined by the Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy (Coalición por…
A few days ago in Madrid, I had the opportunity to meet with two independent Cuban journalists. They were in the city to offer a firsthand account of the grim realities on the island. As our conversation began, one of…
VOC was honored to host a group of 47 students from across Latin America as part of the Youth and Democracy in the Americas Summit. These rising leaders from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and around the region listened to a series of…
Recently at a conference in Madrid, Elisa Trotta, former ambassador of the Venezuelan government in exile in Argentina, said something incredibly poignant: “In Venezuela, time is measured in victims.” It was an expression of pain, one that describes life under the…
On Tuesday, October 15 at the Organization of American States, the presidential campaign of Edmundo González presented a new report detailing the resounding victory of the Venezuelan people in the face of electoral fraud. Joined by David Smolansky, VOC Senior…
A new report from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and The Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy, entitled Torture: Venezuela’s State Policy, discusses the systematic use of torture by the Venezuelan government as a tool to instill fear and suppress dissent. The report highlights: Read…
A new report from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and The Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy, entitled Torture: Venezuela’s State Policy, discusses the systematic use of torture by the Venezuelan government as a tool to instill fear and…
VOC Senior Fellow David Smolansky was quoted by the Washington Post Editorial Board on Maduro’s crimes in Venezuela. As the Editorial Board writes, “Nearly a year ago, the Biden administration saw an opening for democracy in Venezuela, easing some sanctions…
