Historically, the Cuban government forced prisoners sentenced to death to donate blood, in order to “feed” the island’s blood banks
14ymedio, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Aica Laboratories, one of the jewels in the BioCubaFarma group’s crown, announced that it is open to foreign investment to boost the manufacturing of blood-derived medicines. The project, which is seeking a “risk investor” to finance it, includes the construction of a plasmapheresis center. If successful, Cuba will enter the lucrative business of extracting and marketing plasma and its derivatives.
Although they are related procedures, extracting plasma from the human body is not the same as extracting blood. Plasma—the viscous substance left in the blood after removing red and white blood cells, composed of 92% water and the rest proteins, fat, oxygen, and other substances—is used to manufacture medications, following the artificial separation process known as plasmapheresis.
John Wilber Arrazcaeta, director of Aica, assured the official press that they have obtained government permission to open up to foreign financing because the country lacks the necessary funds to sustain an industry of this magnitude and complexity.
He briefly discussed the differences between blood and plasma donations and stated that his company aims to return the red blood cell concentrate to the donor after plasmapheresis. This is relevant information, given that while the body can recover lost plasma within 48 hours, red blood cell regeneration takes about eight weeks.
While the body can recover lost plasma within 48 hours, red blood cell regeneration takes about eight weeks.
According to Arrazcaeta, the process involves “high costs,” especially when it comes to obtaining plasmapheresis kits—which typically contain needles, syringes, reservoirs, and other items—which cost between 30 and 50 euros in Spain.
The potential opening of a plasmapheresis center in Cuba raises multiple questions. Arrazcaeta states that “the investment will be recovered through the sale of the plasma obtained,” a statement that assumes the existence of donors on the island. However, he does not explain how much AICA will pay donors—a common practice in the plasma business—or whether it will pay them at all for the “marketable plasma standards” it aspires to.
A company with vast experience in the field, such as the Spanish company Grifols, makes it clear that compensation for donating plasma is essential, given the enormous profit a company makes from this substance, in addition to its significant importance in the production of blood products. In the case of Grifols, each donor is given a credit card, into which funds are deposited based on the amount of plasma donated and the frequency of donations.
The official newspaper Granma did not raise any of these issues with Aica Laboratories, although it concludes its article with a sort of declaration of principles: the Cuban biotechnology industry operates in “full alliance” with the Ministry of Public Health, a “coordinated” effort that in practice translates into subordination.
BioCubaFarma is not immune to the multisectoral crisis affecting Cuba, which is having a brutal impact on the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. The business group must deliver to the Public Health Department “medicines, reagents, diagnostic systems, among other products” which it lacks the resources to produce.
The business group must deliver to Public Health “medicines, reagents, diagnostic systems, among other products.”
At two recent international events—the Health for All Trade Fair and the 5th Cuba Health 2025 Convention—its executives have reminded participants that the company is seeking partners interested in investing in the Cuban biopharmaceutical industry. The obstacle, they claim, is Washington, whose sanctions scare away suppliers.
Venture capitalists who decide to invest in BioCubaFarma must be prepared to offer “significant capital investments,” commensurate, according to health officials, with the “highly innovative products” Cuba plans to launch, including blood products.
The topic of blood donation has traditionally been one of the most controversial when it comes to health care in Cuba. A report by Archivo Cuba from a few years ago, which stated that the regime had forced political prisoners to donate blood and then sell it, highlighted the historical and political repercussions of the issue.
The Archivo Cuba investigation, led by María Werlau, argues that since at least 1961, the Cuban government has forced prisoners sentenced to death to donate blood, in order to “feed” the island’s blood banks. According to a quote from Castro cited in the report, Fidel Castro said that year: “The blood of these traitors is extracted before execution to save the lives of many.”
This quote, however, does not appear in any of Castro’s speeches—as Archivo Cuba admits—and is only cited in the book Diario de una traición: 1959 (Diary of a Betrayal: 1959 ) by Leovigildo Ruiz. The organization also proposes interpreting another phrase literally, this one compared with the leader’s speeches: “We are willing to give the people of Vietnam not just our sugar, but our blood, which is worth much more than sugar!”
Following further investigations, Archivo Cuba concludes that 31 prisoners – 28 Cubans and 3 Americans – were forced to donate blood between 1960 and 1964, before their executions.
In any case, the situation posed by BioCubaFarma’s announcement this week is radically different. And the problems it brings are not historical, but current: empty blood banks, patients who must obtain blood abroad for surgical procedures, and a healthcare system in total crisis.
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