—President Ali says; ready to work with U.S. Gov’t to address any lingering issues

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali has affirmed that Cuban medical workers in Guyana are in strict conformity with local and international labour laws and that his government has written the United States (U.S.) on its recent VISA restriction policy which targets Cuban officials.

According to the President, the U.S government has been notified that no laws have been breached.
“Every country develops their own policy. We have already responded to the U.S. through our official channels,” the President told reporters at the sidelines of an event on Saturday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

He stated that Cuban medical workers, like the healthcare professionals from other countries, fall under Guyana’s and international labour laws.
“Whatever workers we have here, whether it’s from Cuba, Africa, India, they fall under the same labour laws, local labour laws.”

Dr. Ali underscored that the U.S. is an important partner to Guyana and therefore, the Guyana Government is willing to work with them on any issue.
“We already said to the U.S., if there’s any particular information or any specific issue that they wish for us to address, we are more than willing to work with them because the U.S. is a very important partner for Guyana and we work closely on many issues.

“We are very confident that they are working in strict conformity with international labour laws and local labour laws,” Dr. Ali said.
In February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the country’s plans to expand a visa restriction policy targeting Cuban officials that are believed to be affiliated with a labour programme that sends Cuban workers overseas, especially those in the health sector. The US administration believes that Cubans may be part of a forced labour programme.

The announcement further went on to state that all who are involved would be deemed complicit in the “exploitation and forced labour of Cuban workers.”
“This expanded policy applies to current or former Cuban government officials, and other individuals, including foreign government officials, who are believed to be responsible for, or involved in, the Cuban labour export programme, particularly Cuba’s overseas medical missions. This policy also applies to the immediate family of such persons. The Department has already taken steps to impose visa restrictions on several individuals, including Venezuelans, under this expanded policy,” the U.S. said.