The prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) said his government has provided evidence to the US that Cuban health workers in the country are not victims of human trafficking, as the Trump administration takes aim at the medical missions.
Speaking in advance of US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to the Caribbean on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he was confident that the information he provided would settle US concerns about the deal under which Cuban medical professionals work in SVG.
Rubio, who is the child of Cuban immigrants, announced in February the expansion of an existing policy to target “forced labor” and “abusive and coercive labor practices”, which he claimed were part of Cuba’s overseas medical missions.
But Caribbean leaders have consistently rejected the claims of human trafficking and stressed the important role the Cuban medical professionals play in saving lives in the region.
Gonsalves said he had provided US officials with evidence that there was “no human trafficking here, no forced labour, none of that”.
“We have modern labour laws, we follow all the international conventions when Cubans come here. They do excellent work, and they have their own bank accounts and are compensated comparably to nationals. They have a lot of benefits, including paid holidays. You can enter the program freely and leave the program,” he said.
Since its 1959 revolution, Cuba has been sending medics to both developed and developing countries around the world, including Italy, Brazil, and countries in the Caribbean and West Africa. Its doctors and nurses have been instrumental in tackling outbreaks such as Covid-19 and Ebola.
But under the expanded US policy, “current or former Cuban government officials, and other individuals, including foreign government officials, who are believed to be responsible for, or involved in, the Cuban labor export program” and their immediate family will be subjected to visa restrictions.
Cuba’s ambassador to the SVG, Carlos Ernesto Rodríguez Etcheverry, earlier this month described the announcement as a “shameful decision”, saying that it has no legal basis and will deprive millions of people around the world of medical services.
“We really reject the idea … that Cuban doctors, Cuban nurses are slaves and that the Cuban government is involved in any trafficking issue with regard to our medical brigades. Because we respect our doctors, our nurses,” he told local media.
Describing the idea that Caribbean nations are involved in trafficking as “propaganda”, Gonsalves said that Cuban doctors operate private practices in SVG while they are employed by the government, and some apply for permanent residency in the country. “It’s very clear that there isn’t any sort of issue around trafficking as suggested,” he said.
Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, currently chair of the Caricom group of Caribbean nations, told parliament that although Barbados does not currently have Cuban medical staff, “we could not get through the [Covid] pandemic without the Cuban nurses and the Cuban doctors”.
She added: “I will also be the first to tell you that we paid them the same thing that we pay Bajans, and that the notion, as was peddled not just by this government in the US, but the previous government, that we were involved in human trafficking by engaging with the Cuban nurses was fully repudiated and rejected by us.”
Mottley said that “like others in this region”, she is prepared to lose her US visa if “we cannot reach a sensible agreement on this matter”.
Caricom met on Friday, 21 March, to discuss Rubio’s visit among other matters, Gonsalves said. During his visit to Jamaica, Rubio will hold bilateral meetings with officials from Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados, before going to Guyana and Suriname. Gonsalves said that he was sure the issue of Cuban doctors would be raised by Caribbean governments.
A statement from Trinidad and Tobago announcing the meeting with Rubio said discussions would “focus on US foreign policy and the effect on Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region”, but did not specify whether the issue of Cuban doctors was on the agenda.
