Exploitation of Cuban Doctors: Bahamas Says “No More”
By Francisco Acevedo
HAVANA TIMES – This issue has been brewing for quite some time, as even international forums have discussed the exploitation of Cuban doctors contracted in various countries.
It has long been known that a large portion of the doctors’ salaries remains in the hands of the Cuban government, which uses the funds at its discretion. In many cases, the doctors themselves wait months to receive the wages that the health ministries of the hiring countries pay on time and in full.
Well, this week the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, announced that his government will begin paying all foreign workers directly, including those from Cuba.
This measure stems from a renegotiation of the agreement for hiring healthcare personnel through Cuba’s official medical missions, following a direct request from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with whom Davis met in Washington.
The head of state recalled that before the Bahamas gained independence from Great Britain in 1973, many workers from the Bahamas and the nearby Turks and Caicos Islands were hired to work as laborers in the United States under what was known as “El Contrato” or “The Project.” This included members of his own family, who were forced to collect their earnings upon returning home, often without being fully paid.
In that context, while the British government retained a portion of the wages under the agreement that sent Bahamian workers to fill US vacancies between 1943 and 1965, part of the money was saved in a fund and another portion was sent to their families in the Bahamas. This, however, is not the case with Cuban medical personnel.
Currently, more than 100 Cubans are working in Bahamian hospitals and health institutions such as Princess Margaret and Rand Memorial. They receive additional benefits such as housing, transportation, health insurance, English courses, and administrative expenses, which raise the total cost of each worker above the local average salary.
According to a report by The Miami Herald and The Tribune, based on a contract they obtained, a Cuban state-owned company was keeping up to 92% of the money that the Bahamas paid for the services of four Cuban doctors.
At the same press conference, Davis refused to directly confirm the authenticity of the leaked contract, though he implicitly acknowledged its truth and denied a request to release the full agreement between the Bahamas and Cuba for medical services.
“They’ve already been published, so why would we want to keep publicizing them?” the prime minister said in the Diplomatic Hall of the Lynden Pindling International Airport. To the wise, few words are needed.
Washington stopped short of demanding full disclosure of these agreements, but full transparency certainly wouldn’t hurt.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reaffirmed her government’s stance against what she called “forced labor by the regime” and hinted that foreign officials involved in such contracts could be considered complicit in exploitation and therefore subject to US visa restrictions under the Trump administration.
The Cuban government claims that the wages earned by more than 20,000 doctors and other healthcare workers contracted around the world are used to fund the island’s public health system. However, the critical state of Cuban hospitals and chronic medicine shortages suggest otherwise.
As expected, the administration of Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected the US criticism and sanctions, labeling them as unjustified aggressions aimed at harming the Cuban people (the usual rhetoric). Yet the government has produced no official documents to prove that its citizens receive fair pay or that the revenue is used to improve primary healthcare in Cuba, for example.
The old justification that Cuban doctors received their university education for free doesn’t hold water either. First, they are required to complete “Social Service,” during which they receive only a third of their salary, and for the rest of their lives they continue earning pitiful amounts compared to their peers in the rest of the world—amounts that are insufficient to live with dignity amid Cuba’s harsh economic crisis, marked by food shortages, nonexistent public transport, and daily blackouts.
Public university education is not unique to Cuba, and in other countries, recent graduates are not tied down for life. At worst, they repay the amount of the scholarship they benefited from, which in Cuba would almost never equal the two years counted as “Social Service” on the island.
Perhaps most noteworthy is that Davis is just one of seven Caribbean prime ministers who met with Rubio—who is of Cuban descent—on Tuesday to discuss the issue of the medical brigades. This decision could therefore set a precedent for other nations in the region, and possibly beyond.
The new arrangement may mark a turning point. Still, it’s important to stay alert, as Cuban officials may pressure brigade members to transfer most of their earnings from their personal bank accounts to state-controlled funds, specifically to the Cuban Medical Services Marketing Company.
The medical missions have been repeatedly denounced by human rights organizations—not only because of the paltry wages, but also because doctors must surrender their passports, comply with strict disciplinary and movement restrictions, participate in political events, and are monitored by regime agents.
Separation from their families is another burden for these doctors, many of whom don’t even know how much is being paid for their work.
This opens new possibilities: the dictatorship might “stand its ground” and refuse to send collaborators under these conditions, or it may force them to transfer their earnings directly into official accounts as a kind of “tax.” Time will tell.
Not to mension, the Cuban government hasn’t paid back a single loan since F Castro was/has been in power
I am a retired nurse. In 2008 in trinidad cuban doctors and nurses came to work. I asked a doc if they had problems with unpopular opinions, he never spoke to me again. Recently i said something on my blog and a nurse whose been with us since then gave me a mean eyed look I was not talking about her but him. Skinny wont see me anymore. So they did not like the old man because he was endoscopy and they were open surgery with one who was trained in England to do it but was junior. No equipment at that time so he bought his own and the old man could not get to do the way he was supposed to train them. I heard the pay was small and the rents are high which is why I squatted. Several went to the United States. I heard one was in Africa came here then went to the US. I never forget the groom from South Africa who taught me to ride in England saying in the eighties the Cubans were there when he was drafted to the army.
These Doctors should be able to leave on there own terms.These Doctors have earn that right.The Doctors could come to Canada and get paid the same as
Canadians.I do
think the government of Cuba should grant them that right.
Algunos comunistas opinan aqui. Otros ni saben lo que estan hablando. Miles de medicos son enviados al exterior y otros aceptan esa barbaridad de ser medicos entre comillas o ser agentes de la Dictadura Castrista para infiltrar el obsoleto comunismo en esos paises. Todo el pueblo de Cuba vive en plena miseria incluyendo los “doctores”. Y NO TIENEN LIBERTAD DE EXPRESION. Castigan al que no esté de acuerdo con la dictadura. Pueden recibir carcel por un pedacito de carne de res. ABRAN SUS OJOS.
Trinidad and Tobago has been paying the Cuban medical professionals directly for many years now… they will then give the Cuban government the contractual percentage. I agree the doctors and nurses bring a more caring persona to their patients… they were also allowed to purchase furniture, appliances, food stuff, etc. to take home… its an opportunity for them to earn a higher salary than if they remain in Cuba, even though they have to give the government a percentage.
Cuba is economically desperate because of its Communist dictatorship and not because of the US Embargo. The embargo is not observed by most countries, including Canada and Mexico. For decades after the Communists were in pawer, the US was willing to allow medicines and food to Cuba, but on a cash and carry basis. Ending the embargo means ending the requirement that the Communists immediately pay for products received. We would instead be providing loans that would prop up the Communist dictatorship.
There is a good BBC documentary on Gladio terrorism during the cold war. The US is the largest exporter of terrorism and instigator of “civil wars” in history. Every year the vast majority of UN member nations vote to end the U SA’s illegal blockade and medieval siege of Cuba exporting doctors and medical aid to the poorest third world capitalist nations. Cubans are world class citizens, whereas the US Government continues aiding and abetting a genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. http://friendlydictators.blogspot.com/
The Cuban government is the only beneficiary of the money being paid to doctors. The families of the Cuban elites study abroad and live as the wealthy do while the Cuban people literally starve. The embargo is an excuse to oppress the Cuban people. The medical system is not good in Cuba doctors and nurses expect bribes if you don’t have the money you don’t get the medicines or services others get. That is the reality. Any monetary aid also goes directly into the pockets of the government
Some really stupid posts here. People JUSTIFYING Cuba’s use of doctors as slaves!
Do you know why Chavez’s Barrio Adentro project collapsed in Venezuela? Which used Cuban slave doctors and nurses?
Because thousands of them escaped Venezuela to emigrate to the U.S. and elsewhere.
This is a tightening of the Cuban embargo by the US. If you want to help Cuban doctors or any people under US sanctions support an end to the US embargo.
I am Canadian. I live in Cuba part time. I know many doctors there. High level,extremely high quality doctors. I can say with certainty that not one of those doctors I have spoken with have ever felt their foreign work was “slave labour”. In fact, most of them welcomed the opportunity. They got to see the world, acquire things they would not have access to….most importantly they love the shared experience with foreign doctors and hospitals. The biggest difference I found in doctors from Cuba vs Canada or the US (which is my experience), is Cuban doctors all became doctors because they love to be helping and being doctors. They didn’t grow up to be a plastic surgeon to make millions as a doctor. They truly became doctors because the loved the notion of being a doctor to take care of people. They, unlike our doctors they look at the profession as an opportunity to be of great service to all of us, an honor. Not one doctor I have met, which is over 20, they hace never expressed the sentiments this article implies. Beyond that. The education in Cuba is free. Free to become a doctor. That does not happen anywhere else. To be a doctor in NA would cost in excess of $1M. So there world is different. Many many things I disagree with about Cuba and their terrible system of “government”. However. This is not one. The losers here are patient around the world that can get these amazing doctors to their country. Second, economically it is brilliant for Cuba. The invested in doctors, like any investment, so it is smart to leverage that for trade. Remember this is an island with very limited natural resources or production for export…so how else can the country generate Revenue they so desperately need. So what, if those funds help build roads or repair electric grids. The idea of any country…leverage your assets the world will buy. So please stop this nonsense of slave labor. This is Rubios personal vendetta to get revenge for his parents. He is a good Cuban boy.
My best friend in Cuba is a Cuban doctor. What I know about the medical brigades program in Cuba comes directly from this buddy. First of all, it’s not exactly true that it’s “forced labor”. Cuban doctors “volunteer” to participate in this program. Many doctors complete a tour and sign up again for another. It must not be so bad, right? Wrong. It really sucks but it’s better than staying in Cuba your entire career. My friend got lucky and was hired as a bartender in the ‘Las Vegas Cabaret’. He could earn more in a week just from tips than his classmates from Medical school were earning in a month. He could also moonlight as a doctor if he was very, very careful. As far as I know, he never worked abroad but a lot of his doctor buddies did. They could earn multiples of their in-country salary working abroad despite just receiving a small percentage of what the Castros would bill for their services. They could also buy household goods, clothes and medicine that was not available to Cubans in Cuba. Some of these brigades allowed doctors to return home at the end of their missions with large products like TVs, refrigerators and washer/dryers with free shipping at a fraction of the cost of the same product in Cuba if it was even available. Anyway, I have referred to this program in the past as the Castros pimping out their doctors. The comment still applies.