The Caribbean leaders responded to the threat that the United States Government had issued to cancel visas for anyone who works or support the Cuban medical institutions, citing compulsive work and claiming that these missions were “enriching the Kuban regime”.
Cuban medical missions, provided by doctors, nurses and other medical staff, as well as medical institutions, are crucial for caribbean health systems.
So how did the Caribbean nations respond to this threat and what would it mean for health care there?
Why does the US Government target the Cuba Medical Program?
Targetting Cuban medical missions is not new for US President Donald Trump’s administration. During his first term of the US President, from 2017 to 2021, his administration imposed sanctions on visas on the Global Cuba Medical Medical Program. His government claimed that these missions were “trade in humans” because, according to Cuban doctors, Cuban doctors were allegedly paid.
This time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visas for the Government officials in Cuba and anyone else, globally, that the US considers “witches” with foreign medical programs of Cuba. State Department said that the restrictions will expand to “present and former officials” as well as the “immediate family of such persons”.
Rubio called the Cuban medical program a “forced labor” form, “and the government warned that the Caribbean states participating in these programs could face visual limitations, as well as potential trade consequences.
However, there were no specific evidence to support these claims.
The United States expands their policy of visa restrictions related to Cuba. @Statepptept He has taken steps to limit the issue of visa to the Cuban and the preservatives of government officials and individuals who are responsible for the exporting program of work exports in Cuba. We will promote …
– Secretary Marco Rubio (@secrubio) 25. February 2025
The US states that the Government of Cuba exploits his medical experts by holding a large part of his salary and limiting his freedom. While some Cuban doctors have switched and criticized the program conditions, many others say they willingly participate.
Tamarys Bahamonda, an economist at the US Center for Latin American and Latin studies, said this is a “complex” issue and should direct the voices of the doctors themselves.
“Whether the Cuban doctors are qualified as forced work, we know that they do not negotiate their own contracts or working conditions,” she said.
“Cuba retains a significant part of its wages, and there are testimonies of doctors who confirm the restrictions on the movement, the seizure of the Cuban authorities in the host countries and restrictions on their families.”
At the same time, Bahamonda repeated the key role that Cuban medical professionals play, especially when it comes to providing health services with insufficient communities.
“During my time of work for the side of the Embassy in Havana, I first saw how grateful to many countries for Cuban doctors and the benefits they bring to isolated areas – places that have not had little or no medical approach before,” she said.
Can Trump administration legally do this?
Legally, Trump has a broad authority over visual policies through a state department. The US government may impose restrictions without the need to approve the Congress, citing care of national security or foreign policy.
The affected states can be pushed through diplomatic or legal channels, but Bahamonda pointed out that US targets of Cuban medical missions are not exclusively for Trump’s administration.
“The proposed visa restriction is actually the spread of the policy initiated by the Administration Biden. In 2024, President Biden signed a proposal for the Consumption Act that included sanctions against officials from third countries who contracted the Cuba Medical Services, “Bahamonda told Al Jazeera.
“In the same year, his administration also accused Cuba of having profited from her medical experts.”
She added that the opposition to Cuban medical missions was “double -sided”, citing a resolution 2024, led by Republican Congressmen Mark Green, calling for a visa recall against countries hiring Cuban doctors.
“The feeling regarding Cuban medical missions is quite consistent in all party lines. Whether President Trump had unilateral authority to impose these visas restrictions, I would not expect significant resistance to them,” she said.
This suggests that no matter who is in power, the Caribbean states are likely to continue to face diplomatic pressure because of their relying on Cuban medical experts, she said.
How did the Caribbean leaders answered?
Some Caribbean leaders have stated that they will give up their right to American visa if it means to keep the Cuban medical mission.
This week, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mia Mottley gave a fiery address to parliament, calling an American attitude “dishonest and unjustified”.
“We couldn’t go through a pandemic without Cuban nurses and Cuban doctors,” she said.
Trinidad and Prime Minister Tobaga, Keith Rowley, warned that American interference with the Caribbean decisions about health care is unacceptable.
“Now we were called by traders of people because we hire technical people who pay the top dollar,” Rowley said, adding that he was ready to lose his visa in the US.
Similarly, Saint Vincent and Prime Minister Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves emphasized the direct effect that Cuban doctors have on patient care.
“If there is no Cuban, we may not be able to guide the favor,” he said. “I would rather lose my visa than to die 60 poor and working people.”
And last week, Foreign Minister Jamajka Kamina Johnson Smith told reporters that her government believed that Cuban doctors were vital.
“Their presence here is important for our health system,” she said. 400 Cuban doctors, nurses and nurses are currently working in the country.
In the post on X, the Bahams Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell captured for the Cuban program, saying that his government “follows all international best practices in employment.”
Hugh Todd, Gwajana Foreign Minister, told AP News Service on Tuesday that 15 foreign ministers from the Caribbean Community (Empire) met with Mauricio Claver-Carone, an American special envoy for Latin America, Washington, DC, to express their opposition and demand for American politics.
“He is a strategic partner now to the Empress, but this very important question must be resolved at the level of the heads of the authorities,” he said.
Why are Cuban medical missions critical of Caribbean health care and what happens if they are cut?
Cuba has more than 24,000 doctors who work in 56 countries around the world, and missions are particularly strengthened by health care across the Caribbean, especially in the impoverished countries that face deep economic crises with limited medical services.
“The impact on the Caribbean state will depend on how important Cuban doctors are in their health care systems and how difficult they would be replaced in the short term without affecting the communities that rely on them,” Bahamonda said.
For many Caribbean states, short -term consequences could be devastating. The training of local doctors lasts years, and trained professionals often migrate to other countries, leaving a permanent disadvantage.
Cuba helps fill this gap by sending thousands of medical staff who are much more accessible to the locals than the possibilities of private health services, Bahamonda explained. These missions provide primary care, emergency teams and experts in areas that are often under -represented in Caribbean hospitals.
They also played a prominent role when it comes to responding to regional disasters, such as hurricane, earthquake and emergency cases of public health. Cuban doctors were crucial in the fight against the cholera epidemic at Haiti after a devastating earthquake in 2010 and helping the Caribbean countries during the Coid-19 pandemic.
What other countries rely on Cuban medical missions?
Cuba not only sends doctors to the Caribbean; There are medical missions all over the world. Some key examples include:
- Venezuela is one of the greatest recipients of Cuban doctors, and thousands have worked in community clinics.
- Brazil had a large Cuban medical program until 2018, when Cuba recalled 8,000 doctors for diplomatic dispute.
- Italy received Cuban doctors during the Coid-19 pandemia to help overwhelm hospitals in some of its most affected regions.
- South Africa hosts Cuban medical experts in rural areas where there are disadvantages of doctors.
