Madrid/The news has spread like wildfire that the FBI sent a plane to Cuba to, in the words of the bureau itself, “rescue” a minor victim of parental kidnapping. The case has all the ingredients, starting with the cooperation of two countries whose governments have been staunch enemies for almost seven decades, but it also incorporates a controversial issue that has been on the agenda of the Donald Trump Administration since the presidential campaign itself: transgenderism and minors..
The idea that the victim, a 10-year-old boy who identifies as a girl, was taken to the island to undergo sex reassignment surgery has grabbed countless headlines, but the reality is that it is nothing more than a mere fear expressed by her relatives. “They were just concerned about it, there was no real physical evidence,” said Sergeant Brandon Bevan, spokesman for the Logan (Utah) police, where the minor resides.
According to information provided by the US Department of Justice, Rose Inessa-Ethington – the biological father of the minor, who changed gender shortly after his son was born – and Blue Inessa-Ethington, her partner, will be charged with the international kidnapping of the 10-year-old boy. Both left for Canada on March 28 – with the authorization of their mother, LB – for a camping trip of several days. However, from there they flew to Mexico and, later, to Cuba, where authorities detained them and informed the FBI.
“They just had concerns about it, there was no real physical evidence,” said Sergeant Brandon Bevan.
The investigation discovered in the home registry a list of tasks that gave clues to the destination, including learning Spanish and obtaining tourist visas. “She also learned that 10,000 was withdrawn from her checking account before she left and that there was a note in the house stating that it was “to be sent to the therapist” along with instructions about gender-affirming medical care for the children.”
“That note does not mention Cuba,” adds the American press, which has stated that in the criminal complaint there is no evidence that the couple had any intention of subjecting the child to an intervention of this type on the Island. However, the element seems to have weighed on Washington’s decision to mobilize so many resources. According to the New York Timeswho consulted with specialized lawyers, a plane had never been sent to resolve a case of this type.
Sex reassignment surgery is allowed in Cuba for people of legal age who receive authorization from a specialized committee. Although the first intervention of this type was carried out in 1988, it was the only one until, 20 years later, the current procedure that regulates them was articulated. This is resolution 126 of 2008, which provides for the creation of a National Commission for comprehensive care for transsexual people, directed by the National Center for Sexual Education (Cenesex, directed by Mariela Castro, daughter of the former president) and with various social and health functions. Among them is “approve, according to the eligibility and availability criteria contained in the treatment protocols, the relevance or otherwise of sexual reassignment surgery.”
Later, with the approval of the new Health Law, the Government introduced modifications that do not affect surgery, but rather the exemption from that requirement when changing gender. Previously, for the civil registry to accept the modification there had to be judicial operation and endorsement; With the new norm, gender self-determination is possible without medical or judicial requirements.
Despite all this, sex change operations have been almost anecdotal and are reserved for the national population. In 2018, the official press reported that there had been 39, an almost negligible number. In 2012, Mariela Castro said in an interview that some foreign specialists had asked Cenesex to work with the organization to provide service to plaintiffs from Latin America, but that, in her opinion, the conditions were not met in the country at that time.
“For now we do not give foreigners this type of treatment. In the future it will be done, when we have specialists”
“For now we do not do this type of treatment for foreigners. In the future it will be done, when we have specialists, and the entire team of well-prepared surgeons,” he said. Media limitations have only increased since 2019 and are currently restricted to urgent procedures, so, although there is no official data, currently these interventions are null.
On the other hand, foreigners only have access to medicine on the Island through the Cuban Medical Services Marketing Company, which does not currently offer this type of services in its portfolio. Therefore, there is no legal avenue that Rose and Blue Inessa-Ethington could take in this alleged project.
Why they chose Cuba to flee with the child is something that only the investigation can determine. A plausible hypothesis is that they believed that the lack of an extradition treaty and the Cuban tradition of refusing to return fugitives requested by the United States – as well as other countries – gave them protection. In that case, the miscalculation would have been major, given the current interest of the Havana regime in ingratiating itself with Washington, especially in a case like this, without ideological cost and with diplomatic benefit.
