Why are the Caribbean leaders fighting Trump to keep the Cuban doctors? | Health news

The Caribbean leaders fell to a threat issued by the United States government to cancel visas to anyone working with or supporting the Cuban medical facilities, citing allegations of forced work and demanding these tasks “enriching the Cuban system”.

Cuban medical tasks, which provide doctors, nurses and other medical employees as well as medical facilities are necessary for health care systems in the Caribbean.

How did the Caribbean countries respond to this threat and what does health care mean there?

Why does the US government aim for the medical program for Cuba?

Targeting Cuban medical tasks is not new to the administration of US President Donald Trump. During his first term as President of the United States from 2017 to 2021, his administration imposed visa sanctions on the global medical program of Cuba. His government claimed that these tasks were up to “trafficking in human beings” because Cuban doctors receive their salaries.

This time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced restrictions on visas for government officials in Cuba and any other person, globally, that the United States is “complicit” with foreign medical programs in Cuba. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the restrictions will extend to the “current and former officials” as well as “the direct family of these people.”

Rubio described the Cuban medical program as a form of “forced work” and the government has warned that the Caribbean countries participating in these programs may face visa restrictions as well as possible commercial repercussions.

However, no concrete evidence has been made to support these claims.

The United States expands the policy of restricting visa related to Cuba. Statedept I have taken steps to restrict the issuance of the visa to Cuban government officials and Cuban in the third countries and individuals responsible for the export export program in Cuba. We will promote …

Secretary of Marco Rubio (Secrubio) February 25, 2025

The United States claims that the Cuba government exploits its medical specialists by maintaining a large part of their wages and restricting their freedoms. While some Cuban doctors have defected and criticized the conditions of the program, many others say they are very well participated.

This issue is “complicated” and the voices of the doctors themselves should focus.

She said: “Regardless of whether the Cuban doctors are eligible for forced work, we know that they are not negotiating their contracts or their working conditions.”

“Cuba maintains a large part of their salaries, and there are certificates of doctors that confirm the movement’s restrictions, confiscating passports by the Cuban authorities in the host countries, and restrictions on bringing their families.”

Meanwhile, Bahamonde repeated the affirmation of the decisive role played by Cuban medical professionals, especially when it comes to providing health care services to disadvantaged communities.

She said: “During my time working at a foreign embassy in Havana, I have seen closely the extent of the gratitude of many Cuban doctors and the benefits they bring to isolated areas – places that have only somewhat medical arrival.”

Can the Trump administration do this legally?

Legally, Trump has broad power on the visa policy through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The American government can impose restrictions without the need for Congress by referring to national security or foreign policy fears.

The affected countries can decline through diplomatic or legal channels, but Bahamond indicated that the United States targeting Cuban medical missions is not exclusive to the Trump administration.

“The restriction of the proposed visa is in fact the expansion of a policy that started by the Biden administration. In 2024, President Biden signed a draft spending law that included penalties against officials from the third countries that contracted medical services in Cuba.”

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

She added that the opposition to the Cuban medical missions is “from the two parties”, citing the decision of 2024 led by Republican Congress member Mark Green, and called for the completion of visas against countries that employ Cuban doctors.

“The feelings related to the Cuban medical missions are somewhat consistent with the party’s lines. Whether President Trump has one -sided authority to impose these visa restrictions or not, I do not expect great resistance to them.”

This indicates that regardless of who is in power, it is possible that the Caribbean countries will continue to face diplomatic pressure on their dependence on Cuban medical professionals.

How did the Caribbean leaders respond?

Some of the Caribbean leaders announced that they would give up their right to US visas if this means maintaining Cuban medical tasks.

This week, Prime Minister in Barbados Mia Motley gave a fiery speech to Parliament, describing the American position as “unfair and unjustified.”

She said, “We were unable to reach the epidemic without Cuban nurses and Cuban doctors.”

Keith Rolli, Prime Minister in Trinidad and Tobago President, warned that American interference in health care decisions in the Caribbean region is unacceptable.

“Outside the blue color now, we were called to the human merchants because we rented technical persons that we pay to the top of the dollar,” Rolley said, adding that he is ready to lose his visa in the United States.

Likewise, Saint Vincent and Prime Minister of Grenaden, Ralph Gunsalvis, highlighted the direct impact of Cuban doctors on patient care.

“If the Cubans are not there, we may not be able to manage the service,” he said. “I will prefer to lose my visa instead of being 60 poor and die.”

Last week, the Jamaican Secretary of State, Kamina Johnson Smith, told the correspondents that her government was looking at Cuban doctors as vital.

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

In a publication on X, Foreign Minister of the Bahamas, Farid Mitchell, installed him to the Cuban program, saying that his government “follows all the best international practices in employing work.”

Hugh Todd, the Guyana Foreign Minister, told the AP news service on Tuesday that 15 ministers abroad from the Caribbean community met with Mauricio Claver Karen, a special envoy of Latin America, in Washington, DC, to express opposition to opposing American policy.

He said: “The United States is a strategic partner for Carricome, but this very important issue must be dealt with at the level of government presidents.”

Why is Cuban medical tasks important for Caribbean health care, and what happens if they are cut?

Cuba includes more than 24,000 doctors working in 56 countries worldwide, where health care missions are strengthened in particular throughout the Caribbean Sea region, especially in poor countries facing deep economic crises and limited medical services.

“The influence on the Caribbean countries depends on the importance of Cuban doctors in their health care systems and the difficulty of replacing them in the short term without greatly affecting the societies that depend on them,” said Bahammund.

For many Caribbean countries, short -term consequences can be devastating. Training of local doctors takes years, and the trained professionals often migrate to other countries, leaving behind a continuous shortage.

Bahamond explained that Cuba helps fill this gap by sending thousands of medical employees who are more expensive for the local population more than private health care options. These tasks provide primary care and response teams for emergency situations and field specialists that are often represented in the Caribbean Hospitals.

They also played a prominent role when it comes to responding to regional disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes and public health emergencies. Cuban doctors had a fundamental role in combating cholera outbreaks in Haiti after a devastating earthquake in 2010, and in helping the Caribbean countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.

What other countries that depend on Cuban medical tasks?

Cuba not only sends doctors to the Caribbean. It has medical tasks all over the world. Some major examples include:

• Venezuela is one of the largest beneficiaries of Cuban doctors, where thousands work in community clinics.
• Brazil had a major Cuban medical program until 2018, when Cuba recalled 8,000 doctors due to a diplomatic dispute.
• Italy received Cubed doctors during the Covid-19s to help hospitals that overwhelm it in some of its most difficult areas.
• South Africa hosts the Cuban medical professionals in rural areas where there is a lack of a doctor.