KINGSTON, Jamaica (AFP) — Jamaica on Wednesday rebuffed a push by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to sever a programme that brings in Cuban doctors, who have become critical to health care in fellow Caribbean countries despite allegations of labour exploitation.

Donald Trump’s top diplomat held talks on the sidelines of a Caribbean summit aimed in part at finding new ideas on violence-ravaged Haiti, with host Jamaica saying it would help the new US administration in a “global war on gangs.”

But Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness made clear his differences with Rubio on the doctors, who are sent by Cuba around the world and have become a major source of revenue for the cash-strapped government.

Rubio, a Cuban-American and vociferous foe of the communist government in Havana, announced last month that the Trump administration would bar visas for foreign government officials who assist the programme, which he characterized as human trafficking.

“Let us be clear, the Cuban doctors in Jamaica have been incredibly helpful to us,” Holness said at a joint news conference with Rubio.

He said that the 400 Cuban doctors in the country filled a deficit as Jamaican health workers emigrated.

“We are, however, very careful not to exploit the Cuban doctors who are here. We ensure that they are treated within our labour laws and benefit like any other worker,” Holness said.

“So any characterization of the program by others certainly would not be applicable to Jamaica.”

Rubio promised to engage with Jamaica to have a “better understanding” of how it treats Cuban doctors.

“Perhaps none of this applies in the way it’s handled here,” Rubio said.

But Rubio said the United States remained opposed “in general” to the programme.

“The regime does not pay these doctors, takes away their passports and basically, it is, in many ways, forced labour, and that we cannot be in support of,” Rubio said.

The US special envoy on Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Caron, has also credited Barbados with taking steps to pay Cuban directors directly.

Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne earlier this month sharply denounced the US pressure, saying the absence of Cuban doctors would “literally dismantle our healthcare services and put our people at risk.”

According to Cuban official figures, Cuba sent 22,632 medical professionals to 57 countries in 2023, with Cuba earning US$6.3 billion in 2018 and US$3.9 billion in 2020, in part in the form of oil from Venezuela.

– ‘Global war on gangs’ –
Rubio’s trip comes as he considers a new strategy on Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest country, which has been plunged into chaos for years after government authority collapsed and armed groups took over.

A Kenyan-led mission supported by former US president Joe Biden has deployed to Haiti in hopes of bringing stability, but the troop numbers have come up short and violence has resumed.

Holness said the United States has been an “incredible partner” on Haiti but that the priority should be on a “significant expansion in resources” to Haiti’s fledgling national police so it can take on gangs.

“The present holding situation that we have, it’s not necessarily moving the situation forward,” he said.

Holness said he spoke with Rubio about “a global war on gangs, and there is already significant policy alignment” between Jamaica and the Trump administration.

Rubio has issued a waiver to Trump’s sweeping cuts to aid to back the Haiti mission. He also announced that the United States would provide assistance to Jamaica to combat gangs, including software.

Rubio said that the support to Jamaica “highlights exactly what our vision for aid moving forward is.”

“The United States is not getting out of the aid business,” he said.

But instead of funding non-governmental groups, Rubio said, “We want to provide foreign aid in a way that is strategically aligned with our foreign policy priorities.”