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By Nakinskie Robinson
As the White house takes aim at the Cuban medical mission programme, U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that there's no indication up to this point that Jamaica involved in the forced labour regime.
Mr Rubio, speaking at a Jamaican House press conference alongside Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, said he had been assured that strong labour policies which align with international labour laws and standards have been established and enforced in Jamaica, thereby excluding the country from America's hardline stance on the medical programme.
On February 25, the US announced that it would impose visa restrictions for both government officials in Cuba and any others who are complicit with it's overseas medical-assistance programs.
The sanction extends to current and former officials and the immediate family of such persons.
But Mr Rubio, responding to questions at the press conference, said the crackdown was not against medical professionals or their nationality, but in keeping with the principle of protecting persons whose labour is exploited by their governments, as he's claimed is the practice of the Cuban Government.
"There are places that have better labour standards; perhaps Jamaica is one of those and that's fine," he said, but he insisted that in many other parts of the work the Cuban doctors are not paid, instead, "you pay the Cuban Government (and) the Cuban Governemnt decides how much, if anything, to give them."
He also claimed that the practice of the Cuban Government is to take away the passports of these medical professioal while they are working abroad.
The threat of visa sanctions in relation to countries hosting these Cuban medial professionals has caused ripples through CARICOM, as regional countries have established strong bilateral ties with Cuba, utilising that country's healthcare professionals to plug gaps in the availability of medical personnel.
Cuba's programme which operates as a lifeline for the Global South has more than 24,000 doctors working in 56 countries.
According to Jamaica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 400 Cuban healthcare specialists, including doctors, nurses and biomedical engineers, are in Jamaica.
Prime Minister, Dr Andrew Holness, commending on the issue at the press conference as well, said while the Cubans are critical in administering of healthcare in Jamaica, this country has been careful not to abuse the programme.
"Jamaica has a deficit in health personnel, primarily because many of our health personnel have migrated to other countries," he noted, while not mentioning the United States as one of the primary beneficiaries of that exodus.
But he affirmed that the Cuban health professionals in Jamaica are "not exploited," adding that "they are treated within our labour laws and benefit, like any other worker, so any characterising of the programme by others certainly would not be applicable to Jamaica."
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