Havana/The return of Cuban doctors from Guatemala after the end of the agreement with the Island, last Februaryit’s going at a good pace. With the arrival in Havana this Sunday of a new group of 46 health workers, there are 161 of the 412 in the Central American country, for which they paid the regime $4,513,872 annually.
The doctors’ departure from the country takes place in the middle of 60 complaints for crimes committed by several of these specialists.
According to data provided by the Guatemalan Public Ministry, only three out of every 10 Cubans sent by Cuba were doctors. “Only 20% or 30% of the brigade are really doctors and the rest usurp the quality of doctors and perform other functions,” denounced at the end of March the general secretary of the MP, Ángel Arnoldo Pineda.
The end of the Cuban medical brigade has generated criticism for the lack of enough doctors to fill the vacancies. The organizations in exile International Green Cross and Solidarity without Borders promote a project so that the island’s specialists remain in Guatemala with a contract and receive their salary directly.
An alternative after the Guatemalan Ministry of Health announced that it would cover part of the spaces with medical students doing a residency.
The NGO Prisoners Defenders has repeatedly denounced that Cuban medical missions in Guatemala and other countries constitute forms of forced labor and “modern slavery.” The United States agrees with the organization about the program that in 2024 alone generated income between 6,000 and 8,000 million dollars annually for the regime. Of the million-dollar figures that the Island receives for medical services, the doctors only receive a stipend, in addition, their documents are removed and they are monitored to prevent escapes.
Last June, the United States increased the pressure, revoking the visas of several Central American government officials who collaborate with Cuban medical missions.
Last June, the United States increased the pressure, revoked the visas to several Central American government officials who collaborate with Cuban medical missions. Guatemala ended collaboration with the Island, they also did Honduras, Antigua and Barbudain addition to Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the US of “extorting” Latin American countries by pressuring them to cancel decades-old agreements on medical brigades with Havana.
The regime has resorted to official media to try to reverse the accusations. Latin Press He took up the statements of the Cuban ambassador in Guatemala, Nazario Fernández Biosca, during the farewell of 46 doctors. He praised the work of the brigade for carrying out “silent, constant and deeply human work.” At the event in the country’s capital they took the opportunity to highlight Fidel Castro and José Martí.
Last week Prensa Latina took advantage of the retreat of 22 Cuban doctors in the San Marcos department to remember that the collaboration of the collaborators was important during Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
“From this, he stressed, he began to trace the path to reach the most neglected communities and also the path so that Guatemalans could study in Cuba,” said the mayor of the Ixchiguán municipality, Alberto Lucas Martín.
