—President Ali says

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali has stated that he does not view abandoning Cuban medical workers as a viable option and intends to engage with the United States regarding its recent visa restrictions on the workers.

At the sidelines of an event on Saturday, President Ali told reporters that Guyana, along with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), is seeking clarity and further dialogue on the matter. This issue was also addressed during a recent CARICOM emergency meeting on Friday.

“I’ve already made Guyana’s position clear, that is, we’re employing whether, Cuba, India, Nigeria, in our healthcare system and all of that follows the local laws and international law,” the Head of State emphasised.

He further highlighted the crucial role that Cuban workers play in Guyana and the healthcare systems across the CARICOM region.

“I don’t see abandoning Cuba as part of this equation…“What is clear is that the Cuban health workers are part of the regional health care system.”

The President further clarified that the concerns raised by the U.S. are focused on the workers, not on Cuba as a country.

“It is surrounding an issue and the U.S. is contending that with the information before them, they don’t believe that the Cuban health brigade system is following the international best practices and laws.”

The President pointed out that the region depends on Cuban healthcare workers because of the challenges it experiences.

He said: “We are faced with an added challenge as a region and that is the recruitment of our own healthcare workers and that is because of the English language for the EU healthcare system, the UK, Canadian, and U.S. healthcare system.”
According to the President, the U.S. government has been notified that no laws have been breached. Dr. Ali previously 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 previously said.

In February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the country’s plans to expand a visa restriction policy targetting 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.