Salazar Leads Effort Denouncing the Trafficking of Cuban Doctors

A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced a resolution denouncing the Cuban government's "modern slavery and exploitation" towards Cuban doctors. Florida Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R), Carlos A. Giménez (R), and Jared Moskowitz (D) introduced the resolution, which is back by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, Cuba Archive, and Victims of Communism.

Rep. Salazar, who is the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman, is leading the effort. Early last year, she demanded accountability from the Pan-American Health Organization for their alleged role in facilitating the trafficking of Cuban doctors in cooperation with Cuba's government.

According to a press release from Rep. Salazar's office, Cuban doctors have been forced to conduct work in countries around the world under coercion at the direction of Cuba's dictator. It is also reported that their wages, credentials, and passports have been confiscated. As well, the U.S. State Department's 2024 Trafficking and Person Report showed that many of these healthcare workers have been subjected to surveillance and strict curfews.

In a statement, Rep. Salazar commented that "the Cuban Medical Missions are a sinister human trafficking scheme and form of modern slavery." "Socialist leaders like Xiomara Castro in Honduras who exploit the labor of Cuban doctors should face the consequences," she added.

Rep. Gimenez also weighed in on the issue, calling the Cuban government "the largest, most cynical perpetrator of human trafficking in our hemisphere." He further explained that "Cuban doctors are trafficking like modern day slaves, their wages are garnished and they are exploited in the most inhumane conditions imaginable."

Tony Costa, the President of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, shared that "no other government in the world would accept its own citizens being mistreated and exploited like Cuba does to its medical personnel overseas." "It is a crass profit-making scheme masquerading as humanitarian concern," he added.