Cuban medical collaboration in the most unexpected places around the world

By: Arelys García Acosta, Radio Habana Cuba correspondent in Sancti Spíritus

Currently, about 700 healthcare professionals from Sancti Spíritus are providing medical services abroad.

They are working in the high hills surrounding Caracas, Venezuela; a renowned hospital in Qatar; Belmopan, Belize; and many other unexpected places around the world. In total, 740 collaborators from the province are working across 32 nations, where they teach master classes in solidarity.

This has been the case since the Cuban Revolution first emerged on the global geopolitical map. Many were astonished when a Cuban medical brigade arrived in Chile in 1960 following a devastating earthquake that spread death, desolation, and terror across the South American country.

Later, on May 24, 1963, a group of Cuban doctors, dentists, nurses, and technicians arrived in Algeria. This mission, considered the first of its kind in the history of the Revolution, demonstrated Cuba’s emancipatory projects and humanitarian values. Led by Fidel Castro, Cuba expressed solidarity with the Algerian government and people. At the time, Algeria had just freed itself from French colonial rule, and most French doctors had fled the country.

Now, 62 years after Cuba’s presence in Algeria, more than 605,000 healthcare workers (many of whom have served multiple times) have provided medical assistance in 165 countries. According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Health, currently, Cuban medical professionals are working in 56 nations.

However, Donald Trump’s administration continues to discredit Cuba’s medical collaboration abroad, led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio's recent tour across the region had a well-known objective: to break contracts and commitments between Caribbean governments and Cuba in the medical field.

What is behind Washington’s attack on Cuba’s medical service exports?

With the keen instincts of a trained predator, the White House detects every attempt by Cuba to access markets and financial resources. The U.S. administration is determined to suffocate Cuba’s economy, which leads to shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods. Ultimately, the goal is to provoke desperation and, eventually, social unrest on the island.

In this campaign, what narratives are being pushed?

The false claims being spread include the idea that Cuban medical services abroad constitute "slave labor," that the government does not pay them, and that the government profits from them.

Regarding this issue, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has stated that "spreading or attempting to contaminate traditional media and social networks with these messages is just one part of the cynical plan conceived by the Cuban-origin far right."

Sixty-two years after the Cuban medical brigade arrived in Algeria, the Revolution has not lost its humanitarian and solidarity-driven mission.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise if Cuban healthcare professionals are currently saving lives in a remote Mexican village, one of Haiti’s poorest areas, or a high-altitude Andean settlement—all under the watchful eyes of the world.