United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that the Donald Trump administration was looking at the Cuba health programme globally only for what it believes are injustices and exploitation of workers most times by their own government.
“I think the first thing is to separate medical from the from the labour issues that we are pointing to. Okay, this is not about doctors. This is not about the provision of medical assistance. We have no problem with medical assistance or problem with doctors,” Rubio clarified.
During his visit to Jamaica yesterday he was asked by a local journalist how the US intends to reconcile its stance on this programme given the region’s reliance on Cuban medical professionals, and what alternatives does it propose to ensure the adequate provision of healthcare.
“…Now, every country operates the programme differently, and obviously, because of our relationship with Jamaica, we’re going to give, we’re going to engage with them on that and talk about it further and have a better understanding. Perhaps none of this applies in the way it’s handled here, but generally, that’s the problem with the programme,” Rubio responded.
“It’s not that they’re Cuban doctors. It’s that the regime does not pay these doctors; takes away their passports, and basically it is, in many ways, forced labour, and that we cannot be in support of. Again, not speaking about here [Jamaica] in particular, but in general about the programme,” he explained.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday defended his government’s stance on its Cuban healthcare programme saying that his country faces a deficit in healthcare providers, most times lost to the West. Holness said that the evidence is there that none of the Cubans under his country’s programme are exploited and work within and in accordance with his country’s labour laws.
“In terms of Cuban doctors in Jamaica, let us be clear, the Cuban doctors in Jamaica have been incredibly helpful to us. Jamaica has a deficit in health personnel, primarily because many of our health personnel have migrated to other countries. We are, however, very careful not to exploit the Cuban doctors who are here,” he stressed.
“We ensure that they are treated within our labour laws and benefit like any other work, so any characterisation of the programme by others certainly would not be applicable to Jamaica. We are ensuring that our programme complies with all the international laws and standards to which we are a party to.”
Rubio said that he and Holness had discussed the Cuba healthcare issue and was informed about Jamaica following international labour standards and the like.
“But I’m just talking about this programme generally how it’s operated around the world. And how it’s operated around the world is, that basically, the doctors are not paid in many other parts of the world. The doctors are not paid, you pay the Cuban government. The Cuban government decides how much of anything to give them. They take away their passports. They basically operate as forced labour in many places,” he stressed.
“Now, there are places that have better labour standards. Perhaps Jamaica is one of those, and that’s fine, but I’m describing generally what the programme has been. It has operated in that way in many parts of the world and placed these people in tremendous danger. And so we, I think we can all agree, that the trafficking and labour, be they doctors or farm workers, is not something that we would want to be supportive of, and we find that to be an egregious practice on the part of the Cuban regime,” he added.
On February 25, a statement from Rubio informed of Washington’s planned actions.
“Today, we announce the expansion of an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy that targets forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export programme. This expanded policy applies to 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 labour export programme, particularly Cuba’s overseas medical missions. This policy also applies to the immediate family of such persons. The Department has already taken steps to impose visa restrictions on several individuals, including Venezuelans, under this expanded policy,” the statement issued by the DEO said.
“Cuba continues to profit from the forced labour of its workers and the regime’s abusive and coercive labour practices are well documented. Cuba’s labour export programs, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country. The United States is committed to countering forced labour practices around the globe. To do so, we must promote accountability not just for Cuban officials responsible for these policies, but also those complicit in the exploitation and forced labour of Cuban workers,” it added.
President Irfaan Ali has made it clear that Guyana was not in breach of any labour laws by employing Cuban medical workers and that this message has been relayed to Washington.
“We have already responded to the US through our official channels that is, whatever [foreign] workers we have here; whether they’re from Cuba, India, Africa [et cetera], that they fall under the same local labour laws and international labour laws,” Ali last week said when asked about this country’s position on the US’ proposed sanctions.
“We ensure their contracts and their terms of employment are aligned with international and local labour laws and standards. But we also said to the US, if there is any particular information or any specific issue that they wish for us to address, that we’re more than willing to work with them because the US is a very important partner also for Guyana and we work closely together on many issues,” he added.
Ali said that the information was shared with Washington and this country assured the US that all Cuban workers brought here by the government are employed under strict labour laws and that there aren’t nor would there be any breaches.
Georgetown also outlined to Washington the benefits received by Cuban workers here.
“… We shared with them information in relation to some of the benefits some of these workers get… We are very confident that they are working in very strict conformity with the national and local labour laws. We are not in breach of any of the laws,” Ali stressed.
