Cuban health workers—forced labor victims or humanitarian helpers?

The US recently announced expansions to an existing policy targeting “forced labor” and “abusive coercive labor practices.” The Guardian reports the expansions are pointed directly at Cuba’s medical missions and overseas health workers. But the Cuban government is crying foul, claiming their workers are not victims of human trafficking but are merely medical professionals providing needed humanitarian aid. Between the rhetoric and the politics, the truth can be hard to find.  

Nothing to see here 

New US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, recently left for his first visit to the Caribbean in his official capacity. Notably, Rubio is the child of Cuban immigrants. He claims “forced labor” and “abusive and coercive labor practices” are baked into Cuba’s overseas medical missions.  

Speaking about Cuban healthcare workers while defending the expansions, Rubio said: 

“The doctors are not paid; payments are made to the Cuban government. The Cuban government decides how much of anything to give them. They take away the passports. They basically operate as forced labor,” 

The expansions and targeting of Cuban health workers provoked St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to provide evidence to the US that Cuban workers are not victims of human trafficking. He expressed confidence that the information he provided would settle US concerns about the issue once and for all.  

Medical mission or human trafficking?  

In fact, Gonsalves is not alone in disagreeing with the US perspective on the healthcare workers. Caribbean leaders have consistently rejected the US claims of human trafficking and forced labor. Indeed, they stress the invaluable role the Cuban medical professionals continue to play in saving lives throughout the region. Pointing to his country’s “modern labor laws,” Gonsalves says they follow all the international conventions when Cuban workers come to his country.  

But Rubio disagrees, insisting that it isn’t about their nationality but the policies of the regime: 

“It’s not that they’re Cuban doctors. It’s that the regime does not pay these doctors…and basically it is forced labor, and that we cannot be in support of.” 

Meanwhile, Cuba’s ambassador to the SVG, Carlos Ernesto Rodríguez Etcheverry, called the announcement of the U.S. expansions a “shameful decision”. He said the Cuban government firmly rejects the idea that the doctors and nurses are slaves. Further, he stated the government is not involved in any form of trafficking. 

Talk the talk, now walk the walk 

The U.S. Department of Ethics (DOE) released a statement on the matter stating that Cuba is profiting from the forced labor of its workers and the regime’s abusive and coercive labor practices are well documented.  

The DOE further stated: 

“The United States is committed to countering forced labor 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 labor of Cuban workers,”  

Freedom United supports holding governments accountable for forced labor, wherever it is found. We call on the U.S. government to live up to their promise of “countering forced labor wherever it is found” whether it is in Cuba, China, or their own backyard.