Caribbean

Caribbean Nations Brace for Fallout from U.S. Crackdown on Cuban Medical Missions

Caribbean nations were left reeling from a recent State Department announcement that “an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy,” was being expanded. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the government was targeting Cuba's overseas medical missions. The country, under unilateral sanction by the United States since 1958, has established programs with friendly governments under which Cuba regularly sends cadres of medical professionals to work in the recipient country's public healthcare system. The receiving countries, including several independent Caribbean nations, view the arrangement as part of Cuba's medical philanthropy, which includes sending first response teams to emergencies and mass casualty events around the globe. According to the State Department, however, the medical missions are a way for the Cuban government “to profit from the forced labor of its workers.” Not only does the practice display the government's “abusive and coercive labor practices,” but...