Testimonies gathered by ’14ymedio’ indicate that partial repatriation will begin before January 16, but there is a shortage of planes.
14ymedio, Havana, January 6, 2026 — From the early hours of Saturday, when the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US troops was confirmed, one question began to be repeated insistently in Cuba: what will happen to the thousands of doctors and healthcare professionals who remain on official missions in Venezuela? More than three days after the event, the answer remains unclear, while uncertainty grows among the aid workers and their families.
In Caracas, the activities of the Cuban medical brigades are practically paralyzed. “Everything is at a standstill here. We’re not working or treating patients. We’re waiting for a decision from Havana,” a doctor on assignment in the Venezuelan capital, who prefers to remain anonymous, explained to 14ymedio. According to his testimony, the word circulating among the aid workers is that the repatriation of those who have completed their mandatory mission period will begin before the 16th. “But I have a friend in a state near the Colombian border who was told they’re waiting for orders to return to work. There’s a lot of confusion,” he added.
Other testimonies point to a phased evacuation. A source close to Public Health officials deployed in Caracas confirms that the instruction is “to get all personnel out as soon as possible.” According to this version, the plan would begin with those who have been on the mission the longest and haven’t been able to return due to a lack of flights. “Then the rest of us will leave, because the idea is to evacuate as quickly as possible,” says the doctor, who emphasizes that the pace will depend on flight availability. “Right now, Cubana practically has no planes, and that’s delaying everything.”
The situation is especially tense for those who had already completed their mission and were remaining in Venezuela awaiting transport.
The situation is especially tense for those who had already completed their mission and were remaining in Venezuela awaiting transport. “We’re confined to our stations; we can’t move from where we are because we’ve been told we have to leave at any moment,” recounts a young doctor whose contract ended last August and who hasn’t been able to return to the island. “We’re not working, just waiting to be told the day and time to leave.” The doctor acknowledges that the fear is widespread. “Everything is very confusing; nobody knows what’s going to happen.”
This nervousness contrasts sharply with the message conveyed by the Ministry of Public Health, which on Saturday asserted on social media that Cuban collaborators in Venezuela are “protected” following the US intervention. The Minister, José Ángel Portal, merely stated that the professionals are safe, without offering details about evacuation plans, relocation, or the continuation of their missions.
Beyond the official reassuring tone, the testimonies collected by this newspaper paint a different picture. A doctor stationed in Caracas recounted that, although her coordinators insist that “everything is fine” and that they must await instructions from Havana, the tension is evident. “The bosses are very nervous. Right now, we’re all waiting to hear what Trump says,” she explained in a phone conversation. “I’m about to finish my mission, and I’ve already bought my children’s clothes. Imagine if they move us and I can’t take anything with me.”
In other regions of the country, the situation seems less clear. From the state of Zulia, a Cuban collaborator commented that “yesterday they were telling us one thing, and today they’re telling us another,” although he acknowledges that there are sectors of the Venezuelan population who celebrated the fall of Chavismo on Saturday. “Whether it’s a yes or no, I already have everything ready to leave.”
The unease has also spread to Cuba. “My son called me saying they had taken Maduro away, and right then I started frantically calling my daughter who lives there,” explains a retired woman living in Alamar. “I was finally able to speak to her about three hours later because the phone lines were jammed, and she told me they were gathering them in one place.”
Following the news of the deaths of 32 Cubans during the operation to capture Maduro, the families of the doctors have expressed numerous expressions of concern.
Following the news of the deaths of 32 Cubans during the operation to capture Maduro, the doctors’ families have voiced numerous expressions of concern. “They aren’t soldiers; they deserve to be with their families,” one internet user wrote on the Ministry of Health’s Facebook page. Others questioned the lack of transparency: “Now they have the families going crazy here, and they aren’t giving us any information.”
A potential interruption of medical programs in Venezuela would have a direct impact on Cuba’s already fragile economy. For over two decades, these health missions have been the state’s main source of foreign currency, through bilateral agreements that generate billions of dollars annually. In a context of runaway inflation, food shortages, and prolonged blackouts, the loss of this revenue stream would exacerbate the internal crisis.
The presence of Cuban healthcare personnel in Venezuela, which began in the early 2000s, has been key both to the political relationship between the two governments and to the island’s financial support. However, independent organizations have been denouncing the working conditions of these missions for years: the withholding of salaries, political surveillance, restrictions on movement, and forced separation from families.
In a context marked by military intervention and regional uncertainty, these allegations take on an even more critical dimension. While Havana remains silent about concrete plans, thousands of Cuban doctors and nurses remain confined, awaiting a call that will tell them whether they can return home or if they will have to put their scrubs back on in a country whose immediate future remains unpredictable.
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