BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MINISTER of Foreign Affairs Dr. Denzil Douglas has confirmed that the government of St. Kitts and Nevis pays Cuban medical professionals directly, in the same manner as other healthcare practitioners in the Federation.
His statement comes as Caribbean governments push back against a recent U.S. State Department claim that nations utilizing Cuban medical brigades are engaged in “human trafficking.”
Speaking on Friday (March 28), Dr. Douglas revealed that he had met with U.S. State Department representatives earlier this month during the Organization of American States (OAS) meeting in Washington, D.C. There, he explained that different islands have varying agreements regarding Cuban medical personnel.
Additionally, he disclosed that all existing contracts and agreements between the government of St. Kitts and Nevis and Cuban medical personnel had been reviewed, including their salary arrangements and bank accounts.
“Their salaries are similar to the salaries that we would pay our own local doctors,” Dr. Douglas stated in response to a question from SKNVibes News.
During his recent visit to Jamaica, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the U.S. government’s concerns were not about medical assistance itself, but rather about how Cuban doctors are compensated.
“This is not about the provision of medical assistance. We have no problem with doctors...In many other parts of the world, the doctors are not paid. The doctor – you pay the Cuban Government; the Cuban Government decides how much, if anything, to give them; they take away their passports; they basically operate as forced labor in many place,” explained Rubio
Dr. Douglas reassured that the employment terms for Cuban doctors in St. Kitts and Nevis adhere to international labor standards.
“Again, the situation with regard to the arrangement between the St. Kitts and Nevis government services, that arrangement is an arrangement that stands up anywhere in the world because the arrangement is very similar to what we do make with our own local doctors and service providers generally to the government of St. Kitts and Nevis. Their salaries are paid directly to them into their accounts.,” he stated.
He further emphasized that Cuban doctors receive comparable wages to other foreign and local doctors recruited by the government. “Whether a doctor is from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or Cuba, they are treated equally in terms of pay, vacation entitlements, and overall employment conditions.”
Regarding concerns about passport retention, Dr. Douglas clarified, “We do not tell people what to do with their passports. They have their own passports. We don't hold their passports. Whenever the time comes for the contract to be ended and they have to return to their countries, St. Kitts and Nevis does not in any way have to ask the Cuban government as to whether they can come home.”
He also addressed broader concerns about financial transactions involving Cuban personnel. “Luckily, when I came back here and I inquired, that did not seem to be a problem with our bankers here in St. Kitts and Nevis. So even at that point where there might have been a technical interpretation, here in St. Kitts and Nevis it doesn't apply,” he noted.
Dr. Douglas reaffirmed that the government operates in full compliance with international labor regulations. “I am very, very confident that we are not in any way violating any of the international norms with regard to foreign persons providing services in a foreign country. And nothing that we do violates any of the international charters, the UN charters, with regard to recruiting labour from overseas.”
