Despite the fact that, historically, the Caribbean hasn’t done anything of significance to harm the U.S., the Trump administration appears to have unleashed a string of unwarranted political and superpowered attacks on the region; a type so severe that governments are baffled about how to stave them off and keep going at the same time.
First, USAID closed off all its programs, leaving several key projects in the lurch; then the administration began to pressure governments into accepting third-country deportees from the U.S. As a signal to the others, it suspended tourist visa applications for citizens of Dominica and St. Vincent in the Eastern Caribbean in December, and last month included most of the 15-nation bloc, excluding Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad, on a list of 75 countries that it has banned from immigrant or permanent visa processing. Demands were also made of nations like Grenada — which the U.S. had invaded back in 1983 — to allow the military to set up radar stations on local soil to help it dominate the region.
Now it appears that Washington is about to unleash a new form of political pressure on the Caribbean Community. Recently re-elected, St. Lucian Prime Minister Philip Pierre told an international health conference in the past week that the mighty U.S. has virtually ordered authorities to cease sending students to Cuba to study medicine and other subject areas.
So far, only St. Lucia has publicly admitted to receiving such an edict from Washington and PM Pierre says this will present an enormous set of problems for his island nation and its health sector in the coming months.
In recent weeks, Washington, through Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its front man, has been threatening visa revocations on any regional official linked to Cuban medical professionals working in the Caribbean, as has been the case since the 1970s. Rubio has argued that the current payment system, through which the professionals take home less than 20% of their full monthly pay, should be abandoned to cut out the Cuban system from swallowing up the remainder. As a result, several countries like The Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua have rushed to comply, in part to allow the medical brigades to continue their lifeline work and to avoid attracting sanctions like visa revocations. PM Pierre says he is unsure what the future holds.
“Many of our doctors got trained in Cuba, and now the great U.S. has said we cannot do that any longer, so that is a major problem I have to face. Some of my colleagues (other regional prime ministers) have already taken a position on this and banned them. So, the American government has said that we cannot even train them in Cuba, so I have a major issue on my hands,” he told the conference.
Regional leaders are scheduled to meet in St. Kitts in the last week of this month in what is certainly shaping up as one of the most consequential heads of government meetings in decades, with a list of tough agenda items.
The meeting will ironically be chaired by Prime Minister Terrance Drew, himself a Cuban-trained medical doctor and staunch supporter of the professionals working in the region as well as of students studying in Cuba. He says no one is exploiting the Cubans.
“Since 2003, St. Kitts and Nevis has welcomed Cuban professionals who have come, not as outsiders, but as family, helping us to build a stronger, healthier, and more resilient nation. Our Cuban health care professionals have saved lives. Our Cuban-trained professionals have become pillars of society, let there be no doubt. Let me be unequivocal. The federation values its relations with both Cuba and the U.S. We are a friend to all and an enemy of none. Any accusations of labor practices in our federation are inconsistent with our laws and values,” the PM said in a recent address to the nation. “I, like so many of my fellow citizens, had the privilege of receiving a first-class education in Cuba. Cuba has been an indispensable partner of the Caribbean,” he said, defending the program.
Most of the 15 members of the bloc have retained the services of Cuban health care professionals. Several governments had made it clear to Secretary Rubio on a visit to the region last year that some health sectors would collapse without them.