State Secretary Marco Rubio recently announced the State Department will be restricting the Visas of foreign government officials partaking in Cuba’s medical doctors forced labor initiatives.
For months, reports have alleged that the Communist Cuban regime is profiting off the forced labor of Cuban doctors.
More than 40,000 Cuban doctors are reportedly spread worldwide in diverse 'medical missions.'
The State Department alleges that the program “abuses the participants, enriches the corrupt Cuban regime, and deprives everyday Cubans of essential medical care that they desperately need in their homeland.”
However, myriad concerns have been raised regarding the process by which such doctors are paid, with critics and some former doctors alleging their wages are withheld by the Cuban government and then funneled into the regime’smilitary.
Last February Secretary Rubio expanded visa restrictions for members of the Cuban government participating in the‘exploitation’ of Cuban medical workers.
Now, new visa restrictions will target foreign government officials that “support and perpetuate” Cuba’s international medical doctors program.
“The U.S. is serious about its efforts to promote accountability for those linked to the forced labor and exploitation of Cuban medical workers,” said Rubio as he announced the restrictions.
Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), the daughter of Cuban exiles, supported the measure.
“The Cuban regime’s so-called “medical missions” are nothing but modern-day slavery,” said Salazar. “Countries that participate in this scheme aren’t helping, they’re funding repression.”
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Otto Reich explained Cuba’s foreign doctor missions as a nefarious and lucrative source of revenue for the Cuban government.
“Under the guise of a ‘voluntary, humanitarian, internationalist program,’ Cuba generates between $8 billion and $11 billion every year from the forced labor of doctors and medical workers exported to foreign countries,” claimed Reich.
According to Reich, the doctors are closely watched by Cuban intelligence, have 80-90% of their salary diverted to the Cuban government, and are forced to use their services as leverage for political purposes, such as withholding treatment from patients opposing the Cuban regime.
