AREQUIPA, Peru – After concluding one of the so-called “medical missions” of the Cuban regime in Angola, two doctors from the island reported that they have been waiting for almost a year for the Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA) to pay them the money in dollars that they are owed.
The case of doctors Eliannys Saborit Oliva, an anesthesiologist, and her husband, Alfredo Miguel Ramos, an orthopedic specialist, was reported in the “Acknowledgement of receipt” section of the state media Rebel Youth.
The doctors returned to Cuba in October 2023, after the Castro regime exported their services to Angola for three years. They currently reside in Bayamo, Granma municipality, and work at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Provincial Hospital.
After earning foreign currency for the regime with their services, the payment that corresponds to them has been “exercised minimally,” the report states.
According to those affected, the BPA has not specifically fulfilled its obligation to pay them all of the foreign currency they are entitled to within a reasonable period of time.
“This situation is more critical in Granma provinceand due to bank policy they do not accept that we apply for foreign currency in another province with greater availability because we do not reside there; while our colleagues on the medical mission from other provinces already have their requests settled,” explains the couple.
“They also do not draw up strategies for sending monetary reinforcements, after almost a year of waiting to withdraw the cash in foreign currency that corresponds to us for having brought money into the country (…) in adverse conditions of tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, malaria, Covid-19, with the sacrifice of abandoning my daughter and the rest of the family,” they added.
After several complaints filed at the central bank, the doctors are still without the money they demanded. They also complained that the authorities have not given them a date for delivery.
“We have made three trips to Havana, with letters sent at the Council of Ministers level from where the matter was transferred to the Central Bank of Cuba, which alleges the same response: there is no availability (…) The low availability is real, but it is not understandable to us that in a period of almost a year we have not resolved the demand,” they stressed.
Cuban medical missions: “modern slavery”
As part of its lucrative business of exporting services, primarily those of Cuban doctors, the Castro dictatorship appropriates between 75% and 90% of the salaries paid for them by the receiving States.
In this regard, to prevent the flight of professionals, part of the salary that is not pocketed by the regime is deposited on the Island. In the event of abandoning the mission or not returning to Cuba, doctors lose the income for which they worked for months or years.
The calls “Cuban medical missions” They have been widely criticized by the international community and described by multilateral organizations as a “form of modern slavery.”
At the end of last year, the United Nations (UN) put the Cuban regime in the spotlight for their violations of the human rights and labour issues, especially with regard to its medical professionals deployed on “international missions”. The accusation also implicates host countries such as Italy, Qatar and Spain.
For his part, Tomoya Obokata, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, in November 2023 led a letter to the Cuban representation before the Human Rights Council, in which it warns about the persistence of patterns that resemble “forced labor,” as defined by the indicators of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The Cuban “missions”which include professionals from various areas such as doctorsteachers, engineers, and artists, among others, are described as situations of labor exploitation in the destination countries. The report points to inadequate salaries, confiscation of passports, restrictions on movement and surveillance by Cuban government agents, as well as cases of sexual harassment or violence, threats and physical violence.
The text also mentions ongoing accusations based on testimonies from Cuban exporters and analyses of agreements and contracts, highlighting “numerous violations of basic human rights.” The special rapporteur emphasizes the importance and value of cooperation medical Cuban at the international level, but highlights concerns about violations of fundamental rights such as privacy, freedom of expressionassociation and circulation.
In response to these allegations, the Permanent Mission of Cuba before the Human Rights Council has denied applying pressure or reprisals to those who choose not to participate in these missions. However, Obokata maintains that many professionals are forced to participate due to coercion by the Cuban regime and factors such as poverty and limited availability of employment on the Island.
