Cuban doctors in Angola spend Christmas without pay and with no date set for their vacations
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 25 December 2025 — Christmas once again finds hundreds of Cuban health professionals in Angola caught between family distance, job uncertainty and administrative silence. Hired by Antex, the state corporation that manages these official missions abroad, many doctors and teachers arrive at the end of December without having received their salary for this month and without minimum guarantees to organise a temporary return to the island. The scenario is not new, but it repeats itself with a regularity that erodes any institutional promise.
From Luanda, a Cuban doctor sums up present feelings among his colleagues: “This Christmas will be a little more painful.” In addition to being separated from their children, parents and partners, they cannot afford a dinner that is any different from their daily routine. “It is now usual for Antex to delay payments. Normally, salaries arrived around the 20th, but that’s just a memory now,” he complains, referring to the equivalent of $200 they should receive in Angola, while most of their salary is kept in a bank on the island.
Antex had announced that it would most likely only be able to pay half that amount, but as the days go by, the promise has been reduced to $50. “If that’s the case, they would have to guarantee us a New Year’s Eve dinner, at least, but I doubt they will,” says the doctor.
“If that’s the case, they would have to guarantee us a New Year’s Eve dinner, at least, but I doubt they will,” says the doctor.
In December, as in other months, payment has been delayed and questions remain unanswered: will there be a special end-of-year meal organised by the Cuban authorities, will the pattern of 2023 be repeated — when some went more than two months without being paid — or will we simply have to resign ourselves to another year-end in limbo?
This testimony coincides with other complaints received by 14ymedio in recent days, in which Cuban doctors in Angola report systematic delays in payments, unclear deductions and obstacles to accessing their statutory holidays. Not only does this situation persist, but it is worsening in a context of local inflation, rising food prices and declining purchasing power of wages.
Added to the economic uncertainty is the chronic delay in return trips for vacations in Cuba. Many professionals expected to return between August and September, but that schedule was almost completely disrupted. “Antex has not even sent 10% of the teachers who should have travelled during that period,” explains the doctor. The domino effect is evident: mission time is accumulating, holidays for all staff are being postponed, and there are increasing numbers of colleagues who have been in Angola for 15 months with no clear return date. For some, the wait is even turning into a forced extension of their contract.
“There’s always a manager who manages to leave on the scheduled date,” he adds, adding to the perception of privilege.
The official explanation changes depending on the situation, according to those affected. When there are no TAAG Angola Airlines flights, the response is that there are no connections available and that chartering a flight would be too expensive. When there are flights, the argument is reversed: the airline has raised its prices and it would therefore be preferable to hire a charter flight. “But neither is true,” says the doctor. In practice, almost no one travels. “There’s always a manager who does leave on the scheduled date,” he adds, fueling the perception of privilege and arbitrariness.
The impact of these breaches goes beyond just economics. For many, the mission in Angola was presented as an opportunity to improve their income, help their families in Cuba and build up savings. However, wage arrears and travel restrictions have turned that expectation into frustration. Christmas, with its symbolic significance, accentuates the feeling of abandonment. With no money in hand and no certainty of return, even basic gestures—buying a gift, preparing a special meal, connecting with family—become difficult.
From a contractual point of view, professionals insist that the agreed conditions are not being met. Late payments, lack of information and “total silence”, as they describe it, contrast with the official rhetoric on international medical cooperation. Angola is one of the historical destinations for these missions and a significant source of income for the Cuban state, which acts as an intermediary and retains a substantial portion of the salaries. For workers, this intermediation should entail clear responsibilities: punctuality in payments, transparency and guarantees of rest.
Angola is one of the historical destinations for these missions and a significant source of income for the Cuban state.
The institutional response, however, remains elusive. There are no statements explaining the delays or public timetables for regularising salaries and flights. The lack of information fuels rumours and anxiety, especially on sensitive dates. “Will we not be able to have a New Year’s Eve dinner either?” some ask, no longer expecting a formal response.
In a context where medical missions are presented as one of the pillars of Cuban foreign policy, reports from Angola once again bring forward the human cost of the model. For professionals in Luanda, Christmas brings no respite: it arrives with unpaid bills, broken promises and the certainty that, once again, the the solutions are not keeping up wioth the problems
Translated by GH
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