New employment rules for Cuban doctors to address U.S. concerns- Jagdeo

Last Updated on Friday, 13 June 2025, 18:12 by Writer

As the Guyana government plans to embark on the “aggressive” recruitment of foreign nurses to work at several new hospitals that are being built across the country, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said new conditions of employment would be put in place for Cuban doctors.

“We’re recruiting people from around the world, not confined to Cuba but we’re working to ensure that people who come here from Cuba that they meet the definition because of what the U.S. Secretary of State mentioned that the conditions of work here don’t run afoul of the requirements set by the United States of America,” he said when asked by Demerara Waves Online News.

The Guyana government’s position came three months after the U.S. government raised serious concerns about Cuba’s alleged violation of labour rights of health care workers that are sent to work overseas under the Cuban Medical Brigade programme.

Immediately after the U.S.’ concerns, the Guyana government had asked the U.S. to provide proof that Cuban healthcare workers’ rights were being violated here.

The U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report on Guyana states that the Guyana government previously reported most Cuban workers in the country were medical doctors who were paid by the Cuban government while the Guyanese government provided housing and airfare. “Cuban government-affiliated medical professionals working in Guyana may have been forced to work by the Cuban government,” the report states.

In its 2024 TIP Report on Cuba, the U.S. State Department states that Cuban authorities employ workers through contracts with foreign governments and, in some countries, international organizations serve as intermediaries or provide funds for their work.

However, the U.S. says the Cuban government confiscates between 75 and 95 percent of each worker’s salary, leaving government-affiliated workers with compensation that in many places is an inadequate living wage. Officials retain a portion of each worker’s salary in Cuban bank accounts, and funds can only be paid to the workers when the mission has been successfully completed and the workers have returned to Cuba.

With the construction of six hospitals by the Chinese pharmaceutical company, Sinopharm, and several others on the coastland and the interior, Mr Jagdeo said his government hoped to hire more Guyanese nurses, pay them higher salaries and improve their working conditions but would be embarking on the “aggressive” recruitment of foreigners to staff the new hospitals. “Right now, we don’t have enough healthcare personnel to offer the expanded level of services that would come through the opening of these new hospitals,” he said.