Caribbean dependent on Cuban medical professionals

Caribbean Community governments said this week that they are still awaiting a date for a meeting with the Trump administration to discuss threats to restrict visa access to regional officials linked to the Cuban medical brigade working in the 15-nation bloc.

The appeal for an urgent meeting comes amid growing concerns that such a hawkish American position could harm a regional health sector that depends on support from expatriate doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and others worldwide. Regional governments have been engaging Cuban professionals for more than 40 years, hiring specialists in a number of areas, from dermatologists to endocrinologists to cardiologists, to ensure that health systems have the right professionals.

But alarmed by a threat from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the administration will restrict visa access to officials linked to the Cuban medical brigade program, the region is pressing for a meeting with Rubio or any senior official in Washington. Rubio, of Cuban ancestry, says the plan is to expand the US-Cuba visa restriction system as punishment for involvement in the brigade program because it is a form of human trafficking, a charge regional governments dismiss as basically foolish.

Speaking on a radio program at the weekend, Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne says there is cause for concern in the bloc.

“We totally reject the notion that we are involved in any form of human trafficking. The United States also must understand that these Cuban doctors and nurses represent the core of our health care service within the Caribbean. If we have to review the payment mechanism, that is something we can look at. But this extraterritorial positioning, articulation, and threats. I don’t know that this is the route we need to go,” he stated.

So, the governments have formally asked to meet with top officials as a matter of urgency as they remain baffled by the American position as Cuban doctors have been the backbone of the health sector of many nations for at least the past four decades without any significant complaints. For leaders like Browne, the way forward is crucial as “if they were to take any punitive action against Caribbean countries because of the involvement of Cubans who are providing healthcare services; they will literally dismantle our healthcare services and put our people at risk. We are sovereign countries. Their enemies are not our enemies. We are friends of all, enemies of none.”

Meanwhile, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told a post-cabinet briefing in the past week that there is cause for alarm in the region if the US persists with this policy change.

“Jamaica has had quite a long history of participation in the Cuban medical cooperation program, and in fact, that is replicated throughout the Caribbean, so the statement has been received with some concern. “The Jamaican government is examining the operation of our system. We have over 400 participants from the Cuban medical program at different levels, doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and technicians, so their presence here is of importance to our healthcare system,” she said.

Cuba and CARICOM have enjoyed extremely close relations over the past 52 years, thanks to Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados taking steps in 1975 to establish diplomatic relations with the island. This largely ended its hemispheric isolation, ignoring backroom threats from Washington about retaliation. The remainder of the bloc soon followed. The two sides celebrated 54 unbroken years back in early December.