Bahamas to cancel contracts for Cuban 'slave' doctors after talks with Washington
A Bahamian official said his ministry would establish direct employment contracts with Cuban health professionals in the Bahamas.
Cuban doctors
The Bahamas will cancel contracts with Cuban health professionals following recent talks with Washington officials, Bahamian Health Minister Michael Darville announced in a parliamentary address Monday.
The official said his ministry would establish direct employment contracts with Cuban health professionals in the Bahamas, Reuters correspondent Jasper Ward reported on X.
"Those who are not interested in this new arrangement will be given time to wrap up their affairs and return to Cuba," Darville said in his remarks.
The official in charge of handling health care business with the Havana regime added that recruitment efforts for Cuban teachers and workers were also on hold, pending the outcome of talks with the U.S.
World
Marco Rubio met with the Prime Minister of Jamaica to discuss security issues and the presence of Cuban doctors
Luis Francisco Orozco
Bahamas and Rubio's visit
Cuba's export of health services generates significant revenue for the island, long the Caribbean country's largest foreign exchange earner, sending doctors and health workers around the world. More than 67 countries have contracts with the dictatorship in these areas, according to official figures.
Weeks ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused officials involved in Cuba's labor export program of being involved in "human trafficking and labor exploitation," accusations denied by Miguel Díaz-Canel and many Caribbean leaders, who claim that Cuban medical programs are essential and comply with international labor laws.
Cuban "medical missions" are a form of modern-day slavery
In the specific case of the Bahamas, the island nation used to pay up to $12, 000 per month per specialist doctor, but the doctors received little more than $1,200, while the rest went to the Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos, a state company controlled by the government in Havana.
In addition to the withheld pay, Cuban doctors are subjected to restrictive clauses within their contracts. These include the prohibition to leave their posts without authorization, the obligation to participate in political events organized by the Cuban embassy and the refusal to be self-employed, which reinforces total dependence on the regime.
If these contracts were eliminated, the Bahamas would be the first country in the region to break with the "slave labor" model of Cuban doctors that has been condemned numerous times by international and human rights organizations for decades.
Currently, there are only 35 Cuban health professionals in the Bahamas, and most of them engineers, lab technicians and X-ray technicians, Darville said.
The Bahamas faces a shortage of local health professionals, the minister said.
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