As a decades-old bilateral medical cooperation agreement between Belize and Cuba reaches its end date, the Briceño administration is actively pursuing new frameworks to keep 92 Cuban medical professionals — including 45 practicing physicians — working within Belize’s public health system, Foreign Affairs Minister Francis Fonseca has confirmed.
Fonseca told reporters this week that the national Cabinet has formally directed his ministry and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to develop alternative arrangements to extend the doctors’ tenure in the country, underscoring the irreplaceable role the Cuban medical team plays in closing critical care gaps across Belize. “They are a cornerstone of our health system, particularly for underserved rural communities that have long struggled to attract permanent local medical staff,” Fonseca said of the contingent that has served under the agreement for years.
The original cooperation deal has already expired, so any extension of the doctors’ work will require a new legally binding agreement between Belize City and Havana. Negotiations between the two governments are currently underway to hash out mutually acceptable terms for the continued deployment, with Belize’s top priority being preserving the current medical presence.
Beyond the discussions around Cuban medical staff, the Belizean government is also grappling with a separate, persistent shortage of nursing professionals across the country. To address this gap, Fonseca said health authorities are evaluating international recruitment options, with nursing candidates from the Philippines and Nicaragua currently under active consideration.
Belize’s push to retain Cuban doctors comes as a notable shift from recent regional trends. Several neighboring and nearby Latin American and Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, Guatemala, Guyana, and Honduras, have already moved to end their own similar Cuban medical cooperation programs, phasing out stationed Cuban medical personnel over recent months. No final decision has been signed off on by Belize’s Cabinet yet, but government leadership has made clear that retaining the medical contingent is its core negotiating goal.