By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

CUBAN healthcare workers remain in The Bahamas as the Davis administration negotiates with the United States over its proposal to directly contract the professionals, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville confirmed yesterday.

He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is leading the discussions with Washington and reiterated that the government is prepared to hire Cuban workers directly, ending the longstanding reliance on Cuba’s state-run medical recruitment agency.

That agency has faced intense scrutiny in recent years. The Trump administration branded it a forced labour programme that underpaid, intimidated and coerced Cuban workers abroad.

When asked if Cuban healthcare providers are still working in local hospitals, Dr Darville confirmed they remain in the country but did not say whether they are actively on duty. He gave no timeline for when negotiations may conclude but stressed the critical need for their services.

The Bahamas currently employs three Cuban nurses and three doctors — two ophthalmologists and one optometrist — along with X-ray technicians, physiotherapists and biomedical specialists. Dr Darville said the Ministry of Health intends to integrate them into a new initiative to expand lab and diagnostic services throughout the Family Islands.

He said the sector is in “survival mode” as Bahamian doctors and nurses continue to leave for the US in search of better pay and career opportunities. To fill the gaps, the ministry has recruited professionals from Ghana and is pursuing talent from the Philippines, India, Turkey and other countries.

In July, Dr Darville said most Cuban workers already in The Bahamas were eager to remain under new direct contracts with the government. His comments followed his June announcement that The Bahamas would cut ties with Cuba’s medical recruitment agency and instead hire Cuban professionals directly.

International reports and the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons assessments have alleged that Cuba exerts coercive control over overseas medical workers by confiscating passports, restricting movement, subjecting them to surveillance and threatening reprisals against them or their families if they defect or criticise the programme.

The policy shift in The Bahamas came after US officials warned they could revoke visas for Bahamian government officials and their relatives if the country continued to participate in Cuba’s labour export scheme, which Washington says amounts to forced labour.

A leaked 2022 contract, published by Cuba Archive, showed The Bahamas paid up to $12,000 per month for each Cuban doctor, while the doctors themselves received only $990 to $1,200. The remainder went to Cuba’s state-run agency, Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos (CSMC).

Although Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell initially downplayed concerns about the pay structure, the threat of visa sanctions forced the government to change course.

This week, education officials announced that most Cuban teachers will continue to be employed in the country.