The United States has formally denied allegations that it pressured the Saint Lucian government to cease sending medical students to Cuba for education. In an official statement released by the US Embassy to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean, and the OECS, American officials clarified that while they maintain criticism of Cuba’s overseas medical programs, they have not issued directives to Saint Lucia regarding its educational partnerships.
The embassy statement explicitly noted: ‘The United States has not recently engaged Saint Lucia in discussions concerning international education and respects nations’ sovereign rights to determine their citizens’ educational paths.’ This clarification comes in response to recent remarks by Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, who previously indicated that US pressure was creating ‘a major problem’ for the country’s healthcare education system.
Prime Minister Pierre had revealed at the 2nd World Congress on Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities that the perceived US position was creating significant challenges for Saint Lucia’s medical education framework, noting that many of the nation’s doctors received training in Cuba and that Cuban medical professionals have been operating in Saint Lucia since 2001 through the Cuban Medical Brigade program.
The US statement reiterated longstanding concerns about Cuba’s medical missions program, asserting that ‘the United States continues to call for an end to exploitation and forced labor in the illegitimate Cuban regime’s overseas medical missions programme.’ Earlier this month, the US Embassy had detailed allegations against Cuba’s program, claiming medical workers face withheld wages, passport confiscation, forced family separation, movement restrictions through curfews and surveillance, intimidation tactics, and pressure to falsify medical documentation.