Honduras Ends Cuban Medical Mission, U.S. Pressures Italy Over Doctors

Honduras announced earlier this week that it will no longer hire Cuban medical workers. Nearly 130 Cuban doctors and nurses will be leaving the country after their two-year contract expires on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Cuban medical workers have been supporting Honduras’ health system since 1998. They are typically posted in working-class urban neighborhoods and remote rural areas.

Over the past year, Paraguay, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, and Guyana have all announced they will end their medical cooperation agreements with Cuba following intense U.S. pressure.

“Because it’s the main source of hard currency traditionally for Cuba, the U.S. has decided to destroy Cuban medical internationalism,” John Kirk, author of Healthcare Without Borders: Understanding Cuban Medical Internationalism, told Belly of the Beast. “They appear to have threatened to cut off aid and development assistance to Caribbean countries and tariffs unless they comply.”

Washington’s campaign has combined diplomatic arm-twisting, including revoking visas for officials in countries which host Cuban medics, with propaganda depicting Cuban doctors as victims of “human trafficking.”

U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to Cuba Mike Hammer was this week in Italy, where he met with Roberto Occhiuto, the governor of the southern region of Calabria. He pushed Occhiuto to end Calabria’s employment of around 500 Cuban doctors. Occhiuto refused.

After the meeting, Ochiutto issued a statement saying: “Cuban doctors who are allowing us to keep hospitals and emergency rooms open are still a necessity for our region.”

In an apparent concession, Occhiuto added that he had intended to increase the number of Cuban doctors employed to as many as 1,000 in 2026, but is now considering advertising for applicants from elsewhere.

Cuban doctors and nurses are paid many times more abroad than what they earn in Cuba. Cuban doctors in Italy say they are paid 3,000€ a month. They must send 1,800€ of that to the Cuban state (much of which supports the public healthcare system), and keep 1,200€.

Belly of the Beast has interviewed dozens of Cuban doctors who work or who have worked abroad. Every single one of them has told us they signed up voluntarily.