Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade is ending its decades-long agreement with Cuba involving its medical missions to Jamaica, which has been strongly criticised recently by the Trump administration in America. 

The announcement was made by the ministry in a statement to the local media. However, the unexpected move comes considering that a year ago, portfolio Minister Kamina Johnson Smith declared that Cuba’s medical staff was important to Jamaica’s health care system.

She noted at the time that there were more than 400 Cuban doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers and technicians in Jamaica. The statement said that both governments “were unable to agree on the terms and conditions of a new technical cooperation arrangement” after the previous agreement ended in February 2023. 

Open to hiring Cuban medical professionals

The statement went on to say that Kingston is open to engaging Cuban medical professionals on an individual basis as long as local labour laws are met. Jamaica’s decision comes amid tightened economic pressure by the US on Cuba, with Washington urging longstanding partners to end their relationships with the island nation. 

The US has accused Cuba’s overseas medical missions of constituting forced labour and human trafficking, allegations rejected by Caribbean leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling the Cuban medical missions “forced labour” and a “form of human trafficking.” 

The foreign ministry said Cuban medical professionals currently in Jamaica may be engaged individually for the remainder of their scheduled tenure in keeping with the country’s labour laws. 

“In the interest of continuity of the valuable service provided by the Cuban medical professionals present in the country, and for their personal certainty and well-being, the Government of Jamaica has indicated its willingness for the Ministry of Health and Wellness to engage these medical professionals on an individual basis in keeping with local labour laws,” the ministry said in its statement.

Cuban medical professionals have been serving in various public health facilities across the island, and Jamaicans have benefited notably from the eye-care programme. The Government of Jamaica also expressed “sincere appreciation” to the Government of Cuba for its significant contribution to the country’s health sector.

Honduras also ditching Cuban medical programme

Jamaica’s announcement comes a day after more than 150 Cuban medical staff departed Honduras after its newly elected right-wing government abruptly cancelled the agreement. Honduran officials have previously dismissed claims that they cancelled the program under pressure from the Trump administration.

Last year, Caribbean leaders met with U.S. officials after the US threatened to restrict the visas of those involved with Cuban missions. At the time, the prime ministers of Barbados and of St Vincent and the Grenadines said they would gladly lose their US visas.

Last night, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío criticized ongoing pressure from the US regarding the island’s medical missions. “Something very twisted has to motivate the (US government) when, for the sake of collective punishment against the people of Cuba, it pressures sovereign governments into depriving their own populations of quality health services,” he wrote on social platform X.