Amid the worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus, Cuban doctors resumed abroad, after the United States and Brazil scoffed last year of Cuban health diplomacy, but countries like Italy have a different position.
"Since the turn of the century, there has been talk of a possible global pandemic, and Cuba has prepared its army of white shirts," explains Cuban Arturo Lopez-Levi, professor of international relations at Holly Nimes University in the United States.
This is a strategy prepared before, in a country that has made health and education the pillars of its socialist revolution.
He recalls that "the end of the Cold War, Cuba developed this ability, and therefore logically it became a major tool of its foreign policy."
Today, this policy is bearing fruit, since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, with Havana sending 593 health experts to 14 countries, including Italy, the European country most affected by the disease, with more than 15,000 deaths recorded, and Andorra, which has reported about 12 deaths.
Other countries appear to be interested in the intervention of this humanitarian squad, which was called "Henry Reeve", a group specializing in natural disasters and epidemics.
And the "Henry Reef" named after the squad is an American fighter who participated in the Cuban independence war.
In France, a decree was issued allowing Cuban doctors to intervene in some overseas territories: Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
| Cuban medical teams contributed effectively to treating Ebola in Africa (Reuters) |
This Cuban contingent was created in 2005 to provide assistance to the United States after Hurricane Katrina passed. Washington rejected the matter, but the group interfered in several countries, especially to deal with Ebola in Africa in 2014, at the request of the World Health Organization.
But Cuban doctors not only intervene in times of crisis: there are 28729 people throughout the year in 59 countries where they help medical teams.
Cuba has been providing this service free of charge since the 1960s. After 2000, Havana began requesting fees from rich countries, after it was weakened by the economic crisis caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Currently, medical missions are one of the main sources of revenue in Cuba ($ 6.3 billion in 2018).
This division has also become a target of Washington, which has strengthened its economic sanctions on Havana, since Donald Trump's arrival at the White House in early 2017.
The United States accuses the Cuban government of "exploiting forced labor" by withholding 75% of their salaries and using these doctors sometimes as political activists in the countries where they work.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (Washington ally) confirms that intelligence agents infiltrated the ranks of these doctors.
Jorge Duani, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, believes that, in line with the "American policy" of exerting "maximum economic pressure on Cuba", rejection of the medical program can be interpreted as a strategy aimed at "depriving the Cuban government of material resources."
And he notes that "the new Corona virus gave Cuba a new opportunity to export its medical teams."
The Cuban professor of international relations returns, commenting, "From an economic point of view, this does not replace permanent contracts for medical assistance."
| Cuban doctors accept work in rural and poor areas in many countries (Reuters) |
Political analyst Carlos Alzugaray explains that "the diplomatic and economic benefits are greater" for Cuba, even if behind it was "a purely humanitarian motivation."
The State Department recently considered in a tweet that "Cuba only provides its international medical missions to countries affected by Covid-19 only to recover the money lost when other countries stopped participating in this excessive program." But the state of emergency left by the Kurna crisis may blow up these arguments.
Since the 1960s, Cuba has invested in education, especially in the health field, and the export of doctors has become an important pillar of its economy and diplomacy.
On the diplomatic side, Cuba reflected through "medical ambassadors" that it is not an isolated and backward island as the United States and its allies in the West envision it.
The Cuban medical teams have demonstrated their efficiency, and have rendered great services in many affected areas in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Two years ago, Brazilian President Bolsonaro uttered grave words against Cuban doctors working in his country.
Immediately, Havana decided to summon 8,000 Cuban doctors who work throughout Brazil and provide professional health services to millions of poor people in remote cities and villages.
According to figures published in 2018, there are more than 45,000 Cuban doctors in 67 countries from various continents, along with tens of thousands of nurses, technicians and paramedics.
In Bolivia, there are more than seven hundred Cuban specialists in various provinces of the country, some of whom work in remote areas.
Also, hundreds of Cuban doctors work in very poor Haiti, and in East Timor 182 182 professionals and technicians from Cuba work.
From 1963 to 2004, Cuba established health facilities in Yemen, Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Uganda, Ghana, Gambia, and Equatorial Guinea.
According to data from the Cuban Ministry of Health, 2500 of its doctors are educated in 32 African countries, including hundreds in South Africa alone. These doctors are accompanied by about two thousand paramedics, nurses and technicians.
In Venezuela, ten thousand Cuban doctors work in various specialties in exchange for Havana obtaining one hundred thousand barrels of oil per day at reduced prices from Caracas, according to statistics published two years ago.
Also, Cuban doctors have been working in Algeria for decades due to the revolutionary and socialist ties between the two countries. And the two sides signed years ago the "oil-for-doctors" agreement, according to which Havana sends more health personnel in exchange for Algerian fuel.
According to Margaret Chan, the former Secretary-General of the World Health Organization, "thanks to Cuban medical solidarity, health indicators have risen to great levels in various peoples of the world."