Cuban doctors stiffed

A Washington DC-based non-governmental organization (NGO) has released documents alleging the Cuban government gets the hog of the pay of medical professionals working in the Caribbean, appearing to back up assertions by the Trump administration that Havana is efficiently working around economic sanctions imposed by the US decades ago.

The Free Society Project, or Archivo Cuba, recently released data from research into the scheme under which Cuban doctors, nurses, and other professionals work overseas through bilateral arrangements with governments. Details of what is contained in the agreement with most central authorities have scarcely been released. However, the Bahamas Tribune newspaper reported extensively on the document released by the NGO this week.

It says the professionals take home only about 16 % of the pay assigned to each worker, with the rest going to the Cuban government via a scheme that Washington had deemed as human trafficking.

The Trump administration has raised the issue with various governments in the region recently, even threatening to revoke visas for government and other officials because they were allegedly encouraging forced labor and trafficking. However, the feedback from the area was overwhelmingly in favor of the US doing what it has to do. At the same time, the Cubans will continue to work in regional health centers because they are filling a crucial gap in health care delivery. Critics also argued that the US has made no offer to replace those professionals if they have to leave.

“The documents, leaked by the Cuba Archive, suggest that while The Bahamas agreed in 2023 to pay thousands of dollars per month for each Cuban health worker, the professionals received monthly stipends ranging from $990 to $1,200. Between 84 and 92 %, it appears to have gone to Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos, SA (CSMC), the Cuban state agency that manages overseas deployments,” the paper stated.

Asked to comment, Health Minister Mike Darville said he was not sure about the accuracy of the documents but promised to compare them with official records.

Several governments, including Guyana, Antigua, and The Bahamas, have publicly offered to review the contractual arrangements to determine whether there are hints of trafficking or exploitation of any kind.

And speaking recently to reporters, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali noted that “we have said to the US if there is any particular information or any specific issue that they wish for us to address, we are more than willing to work with them because, as you know, the US is a very important partner also for Guyana and we work closely together on many issues.”