The US State Department has targeted several Central American government officials with visa restrictions on the basis that they are linked to Cuba’s medical mission program.
The officials were not named, but according to Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, they are responsible for the programs which he said include elements of forced labor and exploitation of the Cuban workers.
“These steps promote accountability for those who support and perpetuate these exploitative practices,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “The Cuban labor export program abuses the participants, enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives everyday Cubans of essential medical care that they desperately need in their homeland.”
Family members of the officials are also affected by the restriction.
The move marks an escalation in the US’s campaign to hold officials in foreign countries accountable for taking part in Cuba’s medical programs. Human rights activists and defectors have long complained that they generate revenue for Cuba’s communist government while the medical professionals themselves only get a small portion of it.
The Cuban government has consistently denied the allegations saying the missions are mere humanitarian efforts providing medical assistance to poorer countries around the world.
Washington’s tough approach to the missions has sent ripples through Caribbean countries, including Dominica, which have depended on them for decades. Regional leaders have sworn they will not be giving them up with Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit saying at a press conference they are “crucial for the survival” of the island’s healthcare system.
It is unknown at this point if the US will extend the visa restrictions to the Caribbean.
Following a meeting with regional leaders in March in Washington DC, Rubio said the US has no problems with Cuban medical provision to the Caribbean but is concerned about labor issues and exploitation of Cuban doctors. This was echoed again by Rubio’s press statement on Tuesday.
“Our goal is to support the Cuban people in their pursuit of freedom and dignity, all while promoting accountability for those who contribute to a forced labor scheme,” he said.
Last year the Biden administration accused Cuba of profiting from forced labour and shortly after taking office in January this year, President Donald Trump reinstated Cuba on the government’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Once again, Rubio is lying about the Cuban medical mission workers. Thought this was solved? NO, he’ll keep going back to the same old lies to bend a knee to Trump and his crazy rants. It becomes clearer day by day that Trump’s mental capacity is in decline. This is why, in another post, I urged Dominican high school grads to NOT apply to US colleges because they may not even be able to finish a year before Trump and Rubio decide to put more bans in place and the students will be deported, just like they are trying to ban/deport international students from Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and the top schools.