English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Talking about Cuban doctors today brings to mind a new kind of slavery, of sad pieces used on a chessboard. Through misfortune, the doctor Oscar Elías Biscet — a free man in the damp shadow of his cell — is hardly alone. I believe that few professionals in the world face a situation more precarious … Continue reading “Reinventing Slavery / Ernesto Morales Licea”
14ymedio, Madrid, 13 February 2024 — That the Cuban Government keeps between 70% and 95% of what a foreign country pays for each health worker is not new, nor is it new that the regime alleges that part goes to cover the expenses of, among other things, Public Health. The novelty is in comparing it … Continue reading “Withholdings of 70 Percent or More of the Salaries of Cuban Doctors Are Taxes, Says the Cuban Government”
14ymedio, Havana | 2 January 2024 — On Tuesday, the organization Prisoners Defenders (PD) announced a letter signed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Contemporary Forms of Slavery, in which several governments are denounced for hiring, under “dubious conditions,” workers from Cuba. According to the text, signed by Tomoya Obokata on November 2, Spain, … Continue reading “The UN Points Out Spain, Qatar and Italy for the ‘Dubious’ Hiring of Cuban Workers”
14ymedio, Madrid, 22 August 2023 — The coverage of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s visit to Angola by the press of the African country is as extensive as it is intense. Of the 12 articles with which Jornal de Angola opens its website this morning, seven talk about official acts, meetings, tributes and speeches of the … Continue reading “‘The Cuban People Owe a Debt to Africa,’ but Havana Charges Angola Dearly for Its Services”
EFE/14ymedio, Lisbon, July 26, 2023 — The Portuguese government plans to hire between 200 and 300 doctors from different Latin American countries to perform functions in health centers and ensures that all the rights of professionals will be respected. The Portuguese Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, confirmed these contracts today in an appearance in Parliament, … Continue reading “Portugal Will Contract for 200 to 300 Latin American Doctors and Says Their Rights Will be Respected”
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 23 May 2023 — The Government of Mexico updated the number of Cuban specialists who are working in hospitals. According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, there are 700 health workers who “provide their services for the benefit of the Mexican people,” but he did not offer details about the remote … Continue reading “Cuban Doctors Announce a Gallbladder Surgery in a Hospital in Mexico Where Nurses Are Lacking”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 April 2023 — According to French reporter Francis Matéo, the key to understanding Cuba’s political convulsions is to track the regime’s money: its phantom accounts abroad, the debts it cannot pay, what it charges for sending medical brigades and the budget it allocates to propaganda. The wear and tear of its methods … Continue reading “‘In Cuba, There Is No Good or Bad Opponent: The Opponent Is Whoever Confronts the Regime’”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 January 2023 — The Federal Justice of Brazil authorized the reinstatement of 1,789 Cuban health workers from the controversial Mais Medicos [More Doctors] program, which was canceled in 2018 by then-President Jair Bolsonaro, who considered it a way of injecting money into the Island regime in exchange for doctors who, sometimes, lacked … Continue reading “A Brazilian Court Orders the Rehiring of the 1,789 Cuban Health Workers Who Were Dismissed”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 December 2022 — A first group of 50 Cuban doctors hired by Calabria last August has arrived at their destination three months late. In an announcement through his social networks, the president of that Italian region, Roberto Occhiuto, took the opportunity to defend the controversial decision to import health workers from the Island. … Continue reading “Fifty of the 500 Cuban Doctors Hired in August Arrive in Italy”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 December 2022 — On Tuesday, the Madrid-based organization, Prisoners Defenders (PD) launched a harsh critique toward the governments of Mexico, Italy and Qatar for contracting Cuban professionals in “conditions of slavery.” The temporary migration program for health professionals to “friendly nations” is nothing more than the main source of hard currency for … Continue reading “Mexico, Italy and Qatar are Accused of Participating in the Enslaving of Cuban Doctors”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 October 2022 — The Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador will pay more than $2,600 a month for each of the 749 foreign doctors he invited on October 11 to fill positions in remote areas of Mexico. The amount almost doubles the $1,400 that national physicians currently receive, according to data from … Continue reading “Mexico Opens 749 New Positions with High Salaries for Doctors and More Than a Hundred are Cubans”
14ymedio, Havana, August 25, 2022 — The president of the Prisoners Defenders Association, Javier Larrondo, said this Thursday during a conference, that “there are State Security agents” among the 641 Cuban doctors hired by Mexico. The conference, entitled “The military truth behind Cuban medical missions in Mexico,” was attended by several members of Mexican civil … Continue reading “Cuban Doctors in Mexico Are a Cover for Political and Military Tasks”
14ymedio, Madrid, 18 August 2022 — A total of 497 Cuban doctors will be sent to Calabria beginning in September, as announced on Wednesday by president of that Italian region, Roberto Occhiuto, in a video broadcast on his Facebook page on Wednesday. Occhiuto explained the decision was necessary due to a personnel shortage that hospitals … Continue reading “Italy to Hire 497 Cuban Doctors for 28 Million Euros a Year”
14ymedio, Madrid, 1 June 2022 — Health workers from Cuba arrived in Mexico on May 31, a few hours before a judge in Puebla was to decide if Mexico could hire 500 Cuban doctors under the conditions agreed upon by the governments of both countries. “They have already arrived and are in Mexico in three … Continue reading “Cuban Doctors Arrive in Mexico Without Waiting for a Court’s Decision on Their Hiring”
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 May 2022 — A Mexican judge has agreed to consider a preliminary injunction against plans announced by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to hire 500 Cuban doctors, according to the Associated Press. According to the Mexican press, the second district judge in matters of Civil, Administrative and Labor Protection of Puebla, … Continue reading “Mexican Court Agrees to Consider Injunction Against Hiring of Cuban Doctors”
