BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Grenada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Joseph Andall, on Friday defended the services provided by the Cuban medical brigade even as the United States government announced that it has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on Grenadian government officials and their family members, for their complicity in the Cuban regime’s medical mission scheme.
While Andall would not confirm whether or not Washington has targeted him, he maintained that the Cuban medical programme, especially over the last two years, “has been indispensable towards our health infrastructure”.
He stated that this is the position “not only in Grenada, but throughout the Caribbean and in other parts of the world. Cuban doctors have been known to render services in countries as far away as Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Andall said that Grenada has benefitted from specialist Cuban doctors working in his homeland and that “a significant percentage of our medical doctors are training in Cuba at no cost to the (Grenada) government.
‘So without the input of the Cuban medical brigade, there is no question that our health system will collapse,” he said, adding that as far as the allegations that the Cubans are involved in forced labour and human trafficking, “we will never be party to anything of that nature.
“We are quite satisfied that the Cuban medical programme with us is totally above board and in compliance with international labour and human rights standards. So we have no qualms about being able to defend them,” Andall said.
In its statement earlier this week, the US State Department said that the visa restriction measures will also target African and Cuban government officials. The statement did not name any of the officials from the three countries.
Washington said that these government officials were complicit in the Cuban regime’s medical mission scheme, in which medical professionals are ‘rented’ by other countries at high prices, and most of the revenue is kept by the Cuban authorities.
It said that this scheme enriches the corrupt Cuban regime while depriving the Cuban people of essential medical care.
“The United States continues to engage governments and will take action as needed to bring an end to such forced labour. We urge governments to pay the doctors directly for their services, not the regime enslavers,” according to the US State Department statement.
“The United States aims to support the Cuban people in their pursuit of freedom and dignity and promote accountability for those who perpetuate their exploitation. We call on all nations that support democracy and human rights to join us in this effort to confront the Cuban regime’s abuses and stand with the Cuban people,” the statement added.
Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to the Caribbean, where he met with CARICOM government leaders to discuss, among other matters, Cuba’s medical missions to the region.
Rubio said that Washington would be expanding an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy that targets forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export programme.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in pursuit of the American dream, said in the statement that was posted on the US Department of State’s website, that the new policy also applies to the immediate family of those people supporting the Cuban programme.
But Caribbean foreign ministers defended the Cuban health programme and the benefits it offered and voiced concern about the impact of US policies and the embargo on the Cuban people.
When Washington first raised the issue of the Cuban medical brigade, several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, publicly said they were prepared to have the United States revoke their visas.
Andall said that “regarding the so-called visa issue, “we have not received any official information from the government of the United States.
“So I am not in a position to comment,” he said, adding, “I have not been notified, we have not been notified…we have not got any official notification from any branch of the United States government about visa suspension or anything of that nature.
‘We have been seeing things on social media. There is, there was a post purportedly from the State Department…but we have not got anything,” Andall insisted.
On Thursday, the Grenadian government said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was actively engaged with the US authorities through established diplomatic channels in addressing this matter.
“We assure the people of Grenada that your government is attending to this situation with the utmost responsibility and in the best interests of our nation. We urge the public to be guided by official information issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as we will provide further updates as appropriate.”
Andall, who is a Cuban university graduate, said he has no idea why Washington had targeted Grenada, reiterating “we have not got any official notification from them.
“So I won’t be commenting on that. I won’t be speculating about our relationship with the United States, as we continue to be cordial and respectful with all our friends, and we hope this will be the case with them as well.
“So I don’t have any idea as to what may have transpired,” Andall said, adding, “to be honest, I am not perturbed.
“I believe that all countries that host international organizations they do have an obligation to allow access to the members of the organizations to be able to access meetings and facilities,” Andall asked when questioned about the possibility of him being barred from attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that gets underway in New York on September 9.
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