BELMOPAN, Belize, Nov 4, CMC – The Belize government says while it will not renew the agreement under which members of the Cuban Medical Brigade had been working here, they will continue to serve within the Belize health system.
In a brief statement, the government acknowledged that “Belize and Cuba will not renew the agreement under which members of the Cuban Medical Brigade have served in Belize since 1990”.
But it said to “ensure the continued delivery of medical service” the Belize government, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, “will sign individual contracts of employment with each Cuban professional that will allow them to remain and work in Belize.
“The government of Belize assures the Belizean public of its unwavering commitment to the delivery of professional medical services by Belizean and foreign medical professionals for the health and wellness of all Belizeans,” the statement added.
The United States has aggressively been pressuring Caribbean and Latin American countries to terminate their state-to-state agreements with Cuba’s medical brigades, labeling the programme a coercive “forced labour” and financial exploitation scheme that enriches the Cuban government.
Several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries including Jamaica and Guyana have terminated the agreements , some dating back to 1976, while later renegotiating individual agreements with the Cuban health professionals.
Washington, led Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents were born in Cuba, argues that the Cuban regime skims the vast majority of the salaries paid by host nations, treating the medical staff as a form of state-sponsored human trafficking.
But Havana has rejected the claims as false pretenses designed to economically “suffocate” the island during a severe domestic crisis, maintaining that the missions are humanitarian.
CMC/jh/ir/2026