GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — The Guyana Government Monday said that Cuba had withdrawn its medical brigade programme even as Georgetown was in talks with Havana on the issue.

“We have been engaging the Cuban authorities and they chose to terminate or withdraw the Cuban doctors who were here. So, that’s the first thing I want to make clear,” Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said in an interview with the online publication News Source.

Anthony said that the decision was taken in February 2026, bringing to an end a more than 48-year-long arrangement between the two countries and that in light of the decision taken by Havana, the Guyana Government then opted to hire Cuban medical personnel directly.

“Cuban doctors, nurses and technicians, if they want to come to Guyana, they can come to Guyana and once they are properly qualified and certified by our medical authorities here, medical council, nursing council, and so forth, once they meet those requirements, then we will be able to offer them a job.

“And quite a number of persons have come, and so, we have offered them that job. So, they are working in the public system. So, we don’t have a problem once they are qualified,” Anthony said.

But he was unable to disclose the number of Cuban medical personnel hired directly by the Government since the old arrangement fell through, saying: “I don’t have the number but quite a number of persons, and some persons who were on the brigade also decided to stay back so they are working with the Government of Guyana.”

The health minister said the decision to withdraw the Cuban Medical Brigade from Guyana has had no impact on the country, explaining that even as the country continues to hire the medical personnel directly, the Ministry of Health has been ramping up its training programmes for Guyanese nurses and other medical practitioners.

“As you know, we have been expanding our healthcare system and we have also started to expand training so a lot of people who were on the brigade were nurses, and through our training programme, we are compensating for those that would have been withdrawn.

“And this year, for example, because three years ago we started a registered nursing programme, and by June of this year we will be graduating close to 800 persons, and they will come into service soon, once they have graduated successfully,” Anthony said.

Anthony’s clarification on the issue comes just days after a small group of concerned citizens wrote to President Irfaan Ali calling for the immediate reversal of the decision to terminate the services provided by the Cuban Medical Brigade and to have them return to Guyana immediately.

There had been widespread speculation that the Guyana Government had withdrawn from the programme under pressure from the United States, which in recent months has stepped up pressure on regional countries to end the Cuban programme.

Washington has said the Cuban regime’s medical missions programme, which has benefitted several Caribbean countries, relies on “coercion and abuse”.

“Cuban medical workers face withheld wages, confiscated passports, forced family separation and exile, restriction of movement through curfews and surveillance, intimidation and threats, and even pressure to falsify medical records and fabricate procedures. Many also endure excessive work hours and unsafe conditions.”

It has also stepped up its attack on the Cuban health brigade programme, saying that the regime in Havana is profiting off the forced labour of medical personnel and that “renting out Cuban medical professionals at exorbitant prices and keeping the profit for regime elites is not a humanitarian gift”.

In 2025, the United States (US) had threatened to revoke or restrict visas from some African, Caribbean and Brazilian officials who Washington contended had ties to the Cuban Medical Programme.

Guyana has shared close relations with Cuba for decades, and in 2021, more than 60 Cuban doctors came to Guyana to assist with the management of COVID-19 cases during the height of the deadly pandemic.

Cuba has also been involved in the training of Guyanese doctors.