Jamaica to end decades-long agreement with Cuba over medical missions criticized by US

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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Jamaica's foreign ministry said Thursday it was ending a decades-long agreement with Cuba involving its medical missions.

The unexpected move comes as the U.S. pushes for ending such missions, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it “forced labor” and a “form of human trafficking.”

The announcement was made via a statement issued by the office of Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s foreign minister, according to local media. A year ago, she said Cuba's medical staff was important to Jamaica's health care system, noting at the time that there were more than 400 Cuban doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers and technicians in Jamaica.

The ministry said that both governments “were unable to agree on the terms and conditions of a new technical cooperation arrangement” after the previous agreement ended in February 2023.

It added that Jamaica's government is open to engaging Cuban medical professionals on an individual basis as long as local labor laws are met.

Last month, the Jamaica Gleaner, a local newspaper, quoted the island's health minister as saying that while the agreement between both countries had expired, nearly 300 Cuban doctors and specialists remained in Jamaica under existing contracts.

Jamaica's announcement comes a day after more than 150 Cuban medical staff departed Honduras after its newly elected right-wing government abruptly canceled the agreement.

Honduran officials have previously dismissed claims that they canceled the program under pressure from the Trump administration.

Last year, Caribbean leaders met with U.S. officials after the U.S. threatened to restrict the visas of those involved with Cuban missions. At the time, the prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago and of St. Vincent and the Grenadines said they would gladly lose their U.S. visas.

On Thursday night, Cuba's deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío criticized ongoing pressure from the U.S. regarding the island's medical missions.

“Something very twisted has to motivate the (U.S. government) when for the sake of collective punishment against the people of Cuba, it pressures sovereign governments into depriving their own populations of quality health services,” he wrote on social platform X.