Why are Caribbean leaders fight against Trump to keep Cuban doctors? | Health news

The Caribbean leaders have withdrawn in a threat to the US government to terminate Visa for everyone who works with Cuban medical institutions or claims the information of forced workers and enrich these missions “the Cuban regime”.

Cuban medical missions that provide doctors, nurses and other medical employees as well as medical facilities are of crucial importance for health systems in the Caribbean.

How did the Caribbean nations react to this threat and what would it mean for health care there?

Why is the US government aimed at the medical program?

Targeting Cuban medical missions is not new to the administration of US President Donald Trump. In his first term as President of the United States from 2017 to 2021, his administration imposed Visa sanctions against the global medical program in Cuba. His government claimed that these missions were “human trafficking” because Cuban doctors are reportedly underpaid.

This time the US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio has announced restrictions on visa for government officials in Cuba and all others worldwide that the USA “arrives” for Cuba’s medical programs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the restrictions would extend to “current and former civil servants” and the “immediate family of such people”.

Rubio described the Cuban medical program as “forced labor” as “forced labor”, and the government warned that Caribbean nations that are involved in these programs could be exposed to both visa restrictions and potential trade effects.

However, no specific evidence was presented to support these requirements.

The United States are expanding their Cuba restriction guideline in Cuba. @Statedept Take steps to limit the emission of Visa to Cuban and government officials and people who are responsible for the exploitative export program of the Cuba. We will promote …

– Secretary Marco Rubio (@secrubio) February 25, 2025

The United States claims that Cuba’s government is using its medical specialists by maintaining a large part of its wages and restricting their freedom. While some Cuban doctors have overlooked and criticized the conditions of the program, many others say they willingly participate.

Tamary’s Bahamonde, an economist at the US Center for Latin American and Latin American studies, said this problem was “complex” and should center the votes of the doctors themselves.

“Regardless of whether Cuban doctors qualify as forced labor, we know that they do not negotiate their own contracts or working conditions,” she said.

“Cuba retains a significant part of their salaries and there are statements by doctors who find the restrictions on movement, the seizure of passports by Cuban authorities in host countries and restrictions in the introduction of their families.”

At the same time, Bahamonde confirmed the crucial role that Cuban doctors play, especially when providing health services for under -providing communities.

“During my time for a foreign message in Havana, I saw first -hand how grateful many countries are for Cuban doctors and what advantages they bring to isolated areas – places that had previously had little or no medical access,” she said.

Can Trump’s administration legally do this?

Trump has a broad authority through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about visa policy. The US government can impose restrictions without the approval of the congress by citing national security or foreign policy concerns.

The affected nations can push back diplomatic or legal channels, but Bahamonde pointed out that the US Targeting Cuban Medical Missions is not exclusively for Trump administration.

“The proposed visa restriction is actually an expansion of a guidelines initiated by the bidet management.

“In the same year, his administration also accused Cuba administration of benefiting from his medical specialists.”

In addition, she added that the opposition against Cuban medical missions was “non -partisan” and that a resolution from 2024, cited by the Republican Congressman Mark Green, called on Visa revocations against countries, which Cuban doctors hire.

“The feeling of Cuban medical missions is quite consistent with regard to party borders.

This indicates that the Caribbean nations, regardless of who is in power, will probably continue to be exposed to diplomatic pressure on their dependence on Cuban medical specialists, she said.

How did Caribbean leaders answer?

Some Caribbean leaders have declared that they will give up their right to USVISA if it means to keep Cuban medical missions.

This week Barbado’s’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley held a fiery speech to the parliament and described the US farming as “unfair and unjustified”.

“We couldn’t get through the pandemic without the Cuban nurses and the Cuban doctors,” she said.

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley, warned that interference in the United States in the decisions in the Caribbean healthcare sector was unacceptable.

“Out of the blue, we have been called human dealers because we hire technical people that we pay top dollars,” said Rowley, adding that he was ready to lose his US visa.

Similarly, Saint Vincent and the Grenadine Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves have emphasized the direct effect of Cuban doctors on patient care.

“If the Cubans are not there, we may not be able to lead the service,” he said. “I will prefer to lose my visa when 60 arms and working people die.”

And last week, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith reported reporters that her government saw the Cuban doctors as important.

“Your presence here is important for our health system,” she said. 400 Cuban doctors, nurses and doctors are currently working in the country.

In a post on X, the Bahamische Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell burrped for the Cuban program and said that his government “follows all international best practices when recruiting workers”.

Hugh Todd, Foreign Minister of Guyana, informed the AP News Service on Tuesday that 15 Foreign Minister from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) with Mauricio Claver-Carone, the American special representative for Latin America, in Washington, DC, had made their opposition and demanding clarity about US politics.

“The United States is a strategic partner of Caricom, but this very important topic has to be dealt with at the level of the heads of government,” he said.

Why are Cuban medical missions of crucial importance for Caribbean health care and what happens when they are cut?

Cuba has more than 24,000 doctors in 56 countries worldwide, with missions increasing health care in the Caribbean, especially in the Caribbean, especially in impoverished nations that have deep economic crises and limited medical services.

“The effects on the Caribbean nations depend on how important it is to your health systems and how difficult you would replace at short notice without significantly influencing the communities that rely on them,” said Bahamonde.

For many Caribbean nations, the short -term consequences could be devastating. The training of local doctors takes years and trained specialists often migrate to other countries and leave a continued defect.

Cuba helps to close this gap by sending thousands of medical employees who are much more affordable to the locals than for private health options, explained Bahamonde. These missions offer primary care, emergency teams and specialists in areas that are often underrepresented in Caribbean hospitals.

They also played an outstanding role when it comes to reacting to regional disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and emergencies of public health. Cuban doctors were decisive in combating the cholera outbreak in Haiti after a devastating earthquake in 2010 and the support of the Caribbean nations during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Which other countries rely on Cuban medical missions?

Cuba not only sends doctors to the Caribbean; It has medical missions all over the world. Some important examples are:

• Venezuela is one of the largest recipients of Cuban doctors. Thousands of work in community clinics.
• Brazil had a large Cuban medical program until 2018 when Cuba reminded 8,000 doctors due to a diplomatic dispute.
• Italy received Cuban doctors during the Covid 19 pandemic to overwhelm hospitals in some of its most powered regions.
• South Africa houses Cuban medical specialists in rural areas where there is a lack of doctors.