[Cuban doctors arrive in South Africa to help fight COVID-19]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 2, 2024

Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected] 

CODEPINK Statement on the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report and Cuba’s Medical Missions

CODEPINK is deeply troubled by the 2024 Trafficking in Persons report, which unjustly labels Cuba’s international medical missions as “state-sponsored human trafficking” and accuses the Cuban government of profiting from forced labor in its labor export program, including its foreign medical missions.

Cuba’s medical cooperation program is in full alignment with the United Nations guidelines for South-South cooperation. The positive views held by governments in the Global South, as well as the patients and the vast majority of Cuban doctors, stand in stark contrast to the negative portrayal by the State Department and the few Cuban medical professionals who have chosen to leave their missions.

Reports from Cuban doctors themselves contradict the claim of coercion. Many doctors earn substantially more than they would in Cuba, value the opportunity to travel, support their families, and continue receiving their full salary from Cuba.

While the Cuban government does retain a portion of the income from medical services contracts, this revenue is crucial for financing the import of food, fuel, and medicine for the Cuban population and sustaining its universal public health system, which is currently under severe strain due to U.S. sanctions.

The export of Cuban health services is a vital revenue source for Cuba, targeted by the Trump administration in an effort to induce economic collapse. This aggressive strategy led to the cancellation of agreements with Cuba’s medical services in several countries, depriving the Cuban economy of billions and leaving millions without adequate public health coverage.

For decades, U.S. administrations have encouraged defections of Cuban medical personnel and funded organizations to document supposed labor violations, aiming to pressure allied countries into terminating their medical cooperation agreements with Cuba.

Less than a decade ago, U.S. officials praised Cuban doctors for their heroic work fighting Ebola in West Africa and after the Haiti earthquake. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban doctors once again demonstrated their extraordinary dedication and heroism, providing critical care worldwide.

CODEPINK believes that U.S. concerns over labor exploitation in Cuba’s medical missions are a disingenuous pretext to persuade countries hosting Cuban medical workers to terminate their cooperation agreements, thereby denying Cuba much-needed resources and undermining its ability to sustain these humanitarian efforts.

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