By: Staff Writer
March 21, 2025
Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves says his government is gathering information requested by US authorities on Cuban medical workers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, even as he insists that they are not victims of human trafficking as the Donald Trump administration claims.
“All the data are being gathered — relevant data — and would be sent to our friends in the United States State Department.”
This move by Gonsalves comes less than a week after the CARICOM chair and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, claiming that she will forego her US visa to protect the interests of the Cuban doctors who work in Barbados.
Terrance Drew, prime minister of St Kitts and Nevis also sent the information requested by the US State Department regarding the use of Cuban doctors.
The issue of Cuban doctors has flared up as a result of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleging that these Cuban doctors are being used in a human trafficking ring for forced labour in several Caribbean jurisdictions.
Hugh Todd, Guyana’s foreign minister, told The Associated Press last week Tuesday that foreign ministers from a 15-member Caribbean trade bloc known as Caricom recently met with U.S. Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone in Washington, D.C. after the U.S. threatened to restrict the visas of those involved with Cuban missions, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called “forced labor.”
“The U.S. is a strategic partner to Caricom, but this very important issue has to be dealt with at the level of heads of government,” Todd said.
Overall, Cuba has some 24,180 doctors working in 56 nations, with the missions boosting health care across the Caribbean, especially in impoverished nations with limited medical services.
The fear of losing access to the US is a worrying concern for Caribbean nationals because they understand the US is their strongest ally and are dependent on Americans for survival in these islands, from tourism to goods and services for development.
As the Trump machine puts the clamps down on what it is deeming as international dissidents in its push to reassert global dominance, there will be casualties as the geopolitical dominoes start to fall into place.