CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – The St. Lucia government says it has no agreement with Cuba even though health workers from that country are employed and working here.
“We do not have any agreement with the Cuban government and doctors. We have no agreement. We have no signed agreement with the Cuban government for doctors. Let me say it again, we have no signed agreement as we speak with the Cuban government for the provision of any doctors,” Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre told a news conference.
He said that the Cuban doctors who are working here are doing so “as employees of the Ministry of Health, “and they get paid like regular doctors.
“There is no agreement. As to what will happen in the future, it depends on the supply and demand. But we have no written agreement with the Cuban government as to the doctors who are working here or the medical personnel who are working here.”
Pierre insisted that this information has been provided to him by the Ministry of Health, reiterating “that there is no signed agreement.
“People who are working here are working like regular doctors, getting paid … as regular health personnel. That is my information from the Ministry of Health, and that’s my information,” he added.
In recent times, several Caribbean countries have announced their intention to restructure the decades-old programme with Cuba through its Cuban health brigade project, in light of efforts by the United States to get regional countries to end the programme.
Washington has said the Cuban regime’s “medical missions” programme, which has benefitted several Caribbean countries, relies on coercion and abuse.
“Cuban medical workers face withheld wages, confiscated passports, forced family separation and exile, restriction of movement through curfews and surveillance, intimidation and threats, and even pressure to falsify medical records and fabricate procedures. Many also endure excessive work hours and unsafe conditions,” the US said.
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