Continued international trafficking of people and the sexual abuse of minors are two of the world’s most serious human rights issues. Last Friday, the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere of the U.S. House of Representations held a Miami hearing on abuses of human rights in Venezuela and Cuba.

The inquiry was prompted by reports that in compiling its latest report on human trafficking, high officials within the State Department exerted undue pressure on staff to improve the rankings of several countries, including Cuba, Malaysia and Russia.