2016 ceremony extending Brazil's Mais Medicos Program, brokered by PAHO. (Source: PAHO website.)
As part of its mission to defend fundamental rights and strengthen the rule of law, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) is committed to uncovering trafficking in persons in the Western Hemisphere and holding modern-day slave traders to account. After the trade in illegal drugs, human trafficking is one of the most profitable criminal activities in the world today. This gross violation of fundamental rights takes place on every continent, and the victims include men, women, and children from every walk of life imaginable.
Just 90 miles from the United States, socialist Cuba, assisted by various Caribbean, South American, and Central American nations, has propped up an international network trafficking in persons that routinely violates the fundamental rights of Cuban medical workers. On August 26, 2020, GLA-allied counsel representing former Cuban medical professionals in Brazil met with Brazil's Minister of Justice and Public Safety André Mendonça. At that time, Mr. Mendonça agreed to investigate the 100 Cuban medical professionals' claims of human rights abuses while on the mission.
If you have information about Cuban medical mission in Brazil or anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, please contact us.
Just 90 miles from the United States, socialist Cuba, assisted by various Caribbean, South American, and Central American nations, has propped up an international network trafficking in persons that routinely violates the fundamental rights of Cuban medical workers. On August 26, 2020, GLA-allied counsel representing former Cuban medical professionals in Brazil met with Brazil's Minister of Justice and Public Safety André Mendonça. At that time, Mr. Mendonça agreed to investigate the 100 Cuban medical professionals' claims of human rights abuses while on the mission.
If you have information about Cuban medical mission in Brazil or anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, please contact us.
General Background on Cuba's Medical Missions
Brief Overview of Cuban Health Internationalism
According to the Cuban government, Cuba has sent more than 400,000 healthcare workers to 164 countries since the 1960s. As of March 2020, over 28,000 Cuban healthcare workers (including 18,000 doctors) were in 59 countries. Between March and June 2020, over 3,000 healthcare workers were sent to 30 countries for COVID-19.
While a noble undertaking to help others in need, the Communist Party of Cuba has, in many respects, weaponized the practice of medicine for political and economic purposes and they have done so on the backs of Cuban medical professionals whose labor rights are routinely violated. In fact since 2005, Cuban missions have become one of Cuba’s largest source of income.
For example, remittances to Cuba from the United States are estimated to be somewhere between $4 to $8 billion (in U.S. currency) a year. In 2018 alone, social and health-related services allegedly generated $6.4 billion for Cuba - that is three times the income that Cuba generates from tourism.
Contract Stipulations and Payments
Cuban state-sponsored entities contract with foreign governments so that the Cuban health workers go to that country for 2-3 years, with the understanding that the program can include teaching and the sale of medicine through Cuban state-owned enterprises.
The Cuban healthcare workers are not allowed to work outside of their contract, and receive only 5-25% of their compensation, depending on the country. Most of the Cuban workers' compensation is allegedly saved in a Cuban bank account and they are granted access only upon completing the mission and returning to Cuba.
Host countries cover the housing accommodations and provide the workers stipends in local currency. Sometimes, host countries pay more to Cuban healthcare workers than they would pay their own local workers. The logistical requirements of the program lead to additional expenses that make hiring Cuban healthcare workers more expensive.
Some countries have a sufficient pool of medical professionals to meet local public health need; however, they opt to contract for Cuban medical workers for political and economic reasons.
Medical Training and Qualifications
The Cubans do not need to have their medical training or degrees validated in the host countries. Patients are typically very poor, do not have insurance, and will rarely, if every complain to local officials about problems with care. Keep in mind that participation in the Cuban international medical brigade program is only open to the vanguard of the Communist Party. The candidates are each selected on a wide range of criteria that include a candidates's social record that has been carefully compiled since birth and the family's socioeconomic background. Anyone who harbors views that go against the socialist revolution is not selected to participate in the international program and, likely, would not even be allowed to study medicine at the university.
Working Conditions
While serving in a medical brigade, Cuban health workers are subject to arbitrary restrictions, including checking in at a set time to a brigade leader. The brigade leader is usually not a health professional, but rather a intelligence official who works for the Cuba's secret police, the Ministry of the Interior.
The Cuban medical professionals are under constant vigilance by minders, to whom they must surrender their passports before or upon arrival at the host nation. Cuban medical workers must follow the guidelines of the brigade program or face disciplinary action that includes fines, loss of income, or political and other retributions targeting family members who remain on the island.
In some nations, Cuban medical workers are posted in some of the worst, crime-ridden neighborhoods without adequate personal protection. Cuban workers must leave their families in Cuba, and if they abandon the mission or do not return to Cuba afterward, they are prohibited from reentering Cuba for 8 years.
Finally, Cuban officials and defenders of the program in the United States argue medical professionals who participate in the missions sign agreements and are not forced to participate. While Cuban medical workers sign agreements with Cuban entities that set the terms of engagement, based on materials the Alliance has reviewed the agreements amount to contracts of adhesion or a "take it or leave it" arrangement that, at times, is signed under duress.
Results of Cuban Medical Missions
The much-publicized Cuban brigade arrivals at international airports are misleading, designed for propaganda. When it comes to hard facts about the public health successes of the brigade program, the reported results of these missions are unreliable, as the Cuban workers are ordered to alter any unfavorable statistics.
Benefits for Cuba
The medical missions have many benefits for Cuba, aside from the obvious monetary ones. The missions buy political loyalty through political influencing of host government politicians and businesses; they legitimize the Cuban socialist system with propaganda campaigns in host nations; they help prop up a constellation of state-owned enterprises such as BioCubaFarma, MEDICUBA, S.A., EMSUME, S.A., and EMCOMED, S.A.,; they help the Communist Party secure foreign assistance in the form of loans and investments; they offer opportunities to gather intelligence and insights into host governments and populations; and they leverage political and ideological agenda from allied governments.
(Data based on research conducted by Cuba Archive and other sources. See Cuba Salud for more information.)
According to the Cuban government, Cuba has sent more than 400,000 healthcare workers to 164 countries since the 1960s. As of March 2020, over 28,000 Cuban healthcare workers (including 18,000 doctors) were in 59 countries. Between March and June 2020, over 3,000 healthcare workers were sent to 30 countries for COVID-19.
While a noble undertaking to help others in need, the Communist Party of Cuba has, in many respects, weaponized the practice of medicine for political and economic purposes and they have done so on the backs of Cuban medical professionals whose labor rights are routinely violated. In fact since 2005, Cuban missions have become one of Cuba’s largest source of income.
For example, remittances to Cuba from the United States are estimated to be somewhere between $4 to $8 billion (in U.S. currency) a year. In 2018 alone, social and health-related services allegedly generated $6.4 billion for Cuba - that is three times the income that Cuba generates from tourism.
Contract Stipulations and Payments
Cuban state-sponsored entities contract with foreign governments so that the Cuban health workers go to that country for 2-3 years, with the understanding that the program can include teaching and the sale of medicine through Cuban state-owned enterprises.
The Cuban healthcare workers are not allowed to work outside of their contract, and receive only 5-25% of their compensation, depending on the country. Most of the Cuban workers' compensation is allegedly saved in a Cuban bank account and they are granted access only upon completing the mission and returning to Cuba.
Host countries cover the housing accommodations and provide the workers stipends in local currency. Sometimes, host countries pay more to Cuban healthcare workers than they would pay their own local workers. The logistical requirements of the program lead to additional expenses that make hiring Cuban healthcare workers more expensive.
Some countries have a sufficient pool of medical professionals to meet local public health need; however, they opt to contract for Cuban medical workers for political and economic reasons.
Medical Training and Qualifications
The Cubans do not need to have their medical training or degrees validated in the host countries. Patients are typically very poor, do not have insurance, and will rarely, if every complain to local officials about problems with care. Keep in mind that participation in the Cuban international medical brigade program is only open to the vanguard of the Communist Party. The candidates are each selected on a wide range of criteria that include a candidates's social record that has been carefully compiled since birth and the family's socioeconomic background. Anyone who harbors views that go against the socialist revolution is not selected to participate in the international program and, likely, would not even be allowed to study medicine at the university.
Working Conditions
While serving in a medical brigade, Cuban health workers are subject to arbitrary restrictions, including checking in at a set time to a brigade leader. The brigade leader is usually not a health professional, but rather a intelligence official who works for the Cuba's secret police, the Ministry of the Interior.
The Cuban medical professionals are under constant vigilance by minders, to whom they must surrender their passports before or upon arrival at the host nation. Cuban medical workers must follow the guidelines of the brigade program or face disciplinary action that includes fines, loss of income, or political and other retributions targeting family members who remain on the island.
In some nations, Cuban medical workers are posted in some of the worst, crime-ridden neighborhoods without adequate personal protection. Cuban workers must leave their families in Cuba, and if they abandon the mission or do not return to Cuba afterward, they are prohibited from reentering Cuba for 8 years.
Finally, Cuban officials and defenders of the program in the United States argue medical professionals who participate in the missions sign agreements and are not forced to participate. While Cuban medical workers sign agreements with Cuban entities that set the terms of engagement, based on materials the Alliance has reviewed the agreements amount to contracts of adhesion or a "take it or leave it" arrangement that, at times, is signed under duress.
Results of Cuban Medical Missions
The much-publicized Cuban brigade arrivals at international airports are misleading, designed for propaganda. When it comes to hard facts about the public health successes of the brigade program, the reported results of these missions are unreliable, as the Cuban workers are ordered to alter any unfavorable statistics.
Benefits for Cuba
The medical missions have many benefits for Cuba, aside from the obvious monetary ones. The missions buy political loyalty through political influencing of host government politicians and businesses; they legitimize the Cuban socialist system with propaganda campaigns in host nations; they help prop up a constellation of state-owned enterprises such as BioCubaFarma, MEDICUBA, S.A., EMSUME, S.A., and EMCOMED, S.A.,; they help the Communist Party secure foreign assistance in the form of loans and investments; they offer opportunities to gather intelligence and insights into host governments and populations; and they leverage political and ideological agenda from allied governments.
(Data based on research conducted by Cuba Archive and other sources. See Cuba Salud for more information.)
Background on Cuba's Medical Mission in Brazil
Information coming soon!
Global Liberty Alliance Legal Measures in Brazil
In 2019, GLA legal counsel obtained the contact information of 100 Cuban health professionals who alleged human rights abuses while on their medical mission in Brazil.
On August 26, 2020, GLA Brazilian legal counsel met with the Minister of Justice and Public Safety to discuss the Cuban health workers' claims of human rights abuses. The Minister then agreed to undertake an investigation of these claims.
More actions still pending.
On August 26, 2020, GLA Brazilian legal counsel met with the Minister of Justice and Public Safety to discuss the Cuban health workers' claims of human rights abuses. The Minister then agreed to undertake an investigation of these claims.
More actions still pending.
Brazil CUBAN MEDICAL MISSION DOCUMENTS
1) August 2020 Report and Letter for Brazilian Minister of Justice and Public Safety
2) December 2019 Documents Regarding Cuban Medical Workers Stationed in Brazil:
2) December 2019 Documents Regarding Cuban Medical Workers Stationed in Brazil:
- Interministerial Ordinance Regulating Residency for Cuban Medical Workers
- Reporting on Cuban medical workers by NGO Cuban Prisoners Defenders
- Decision from Brazilian First Regional Federal Court on Trial No. 0073154-12.2016.4.01.3400
- Decision from Brazilian First Regional Federal Court on Trial No. 0062466-88.2016.4.01.3400
- G1 Report from Brazilian newspaper O Globo
- Report from Brazilian newspaper Gazeta do Povo
- Technical Note from Brazil's Federal Council of Medicine
- Report by Brazilian Labor Court on the Suit related to the Mais Medicos Program
- Report of the Federal Audit Court on the Mais Medicos Program
- Report of the Federal Audit Court on the Mais Medicos Program
- Letter from U.S. Senators to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Detailing Cuban Medical Workers' Situation in Brazil
