In parallel to the war of tariffs and threats of coercive measures against several States, a new conflict is developing between the US and dozens of developing countries, around the objective of ending Cuba's international medical cooperation, which began in 1963, by blackmailing officials from the governments of the recipient countries to refuse visas.
Numerous publications such as Jamaica The Gleaner, Jamaica Star, Barbados Today, St. Vincent Times, Antigua Observer, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, Wiredja, iWitness News, Iwnsvg from Saint Vicent and the Granadines, Final Call, People's Dispatch, Jacobin and others has been editorializing and criticizing the move against Cuban cooperation and the vulnerable peoples in more than 50 Third World countries receiving Cuban medical aid.
iWitness News published that Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, defended the Cuban health programme and said: “There are 60 persons there on haemodialysis,… They’re getting the haemodialysis free, but the point where I’m going to, is, if the Cubans are not there, we may not be able to run the service. Must I allow 60 persons to die? Premier Gonsalves further said that “I will prefer to lose my (US) visa than to have 60 poor and working people die."
Trinidad and Tobago Guardian revealed that Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago’s, Dr Keith Rowley stated that “I came back from California and if I never go back there again in my life, I will ensure that the sovereignty of Trinidad and Tobago is known to its people and respected by all.”
WiredJA News reported that Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell highlighted that "We have a legitimate partnership with the government and people of Cuba who have over several decades provided support to the people of Grenada in the medical field." And "We will continue to support and defend the partnership."
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, stated that “…that the notion, as was peddled not just by this government in the U.S., but the previous government, that we were involved in human trafficking by engaging with the Cuban nurses was fully repudiated and rejected by us.
She added that “This matter, with the Cubans and the nurses, should tell us everything that we need to know. Barbados does not currently have Cuban medical staff or Cuban nurses, but I will be the first to go to the line and to tell you that we could not get through the pandemic without the Cuban nurses and the Cuban doctors.” and affirmed that she is “prepared, like others in this region, that if we cannot reach a sensible agreement on this matter, then if the cost of it is the loss of my visa, to the U.S., then so be it. But what matters to us is principles.”
The Caribbean media Wiredja published that Guyana's Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo declared that "This is not a Guyana issue, it is a regional issue," and affirmed that "It transcends political administrations and a long period of history. It will affect every country in our region, every single country—not just in CARICOM, but many other countries around the world"
The Jamaica´s Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Dr. Angela Brown Burke, highlighted that “Cuban healthcare workers have become an integral part of Jamaica's medical landscape.¨ and that "When Jamaica and other Caribbean nations faced tough times, Cuba was one of the few countries that consistently offered support, whether in healthcare, education, sports, or infrastructure development,".
Barbados Today quoted Barbado´s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, that “the move could jeopardise critical healthcare services across the Caribbean.” The Minister “…noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba’s medical brigades were at the forefront of testing and treatment efforts in Barbados and several neighbouring countries, further stating that “when others closed their doors, Cuba opened theirs”.
Now Grenada reported that Foreign Affairs Minister of Grenada, Joseph Andall, told Parliament that “Cuba continues to be a trustworthy friend and partner not only of Grenada, not only of the Caribbean but of people the world over. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Cuban doctors went as far as Italy to provide services; I did not hear anybody talk about human trafficking and things like that,”
In the Editorial “Leave Cuban medics¨ the Jamaca´s Newspaper The Gleaner assessed this policy, “…whose hurt will be felt not only by Cuba, but by poor people in Africa, Asia and the Americas, including several Caribbean countries, Jamaica among them. It will cost lives, and, possibly, the unintended consequence of adding to the factors that drive illegal migrants from their home countries to the United States. Which is something the Trump administration is vehemently against.
The Trinidad and Tobago´s “Movement for Social Justice” (MSJ), called on CARICOM Heads of Governments “to take a united, strong, uncompromising position on this. It is not just about Cuba’s medical professionals assisting us with our health care; it is fundamentally about our sovereign right as independent nations to establish agreements with other sovereign states. (…)” The Movement recalled that “These medical professionals (Cubans) often go to places where no other country wants to assist and ensures that there is relief for millions. Countless lives have been saved,…”
The US publication People's Dispatch defended that "(...) In many cases, the Cuban doctors fill gaps in historically marginalized and underserved communities, be it in the rural Indigenous communities of Brazil, or poor neighborhoods in cities across the Global South.“
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuba sent more than 5,000 health professionals in 57 brigades to more than 40 countries, which guaranteed air transportation, accommodation and food, but there was no payment to Cuba. It was selfless solidarity in its highest sense.
The crusade of one country against Cuba's medical cooperation contrasts with the international recognition it has received. In May 2017, Cuba's Henry Reeve Medical Brigade received the Dr. LEE Jong-wook Public Health Award at the 70th World Health Assembly, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) "in recognition of its work in emergency medical care for more than 3.5 million people in 21 countries affected by disasters and epidemics, since its creation in September 2005." The award was unanimously granted by the 140th Meeting of the Executive Board of that Organization, made up of 34 States.
The Henry Reeve Contingent was also nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in an initiative, accepted by the Prize Foundation and signed by more than 230,000 people from around the world, between March 2020 and 2021. The initiative was endorsed, among others, by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Argentine Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, the British Baroness Christine Blowe, member of the House of Lords of Parliament, the National Assembly of Venezuela, the famous Greek composer now deceased, Mikis Theodorakis and the World Peace Council.