A group of Cuban doctors in New York denounced, on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, “slavery” during the government's international missions. After deserting, they now live in the United States, where they started a new life, but cannot exercise their profession.
"I got tired of slavery, I got tired of lying," Tatiana Carballo said on Thursday during a conference organized by the US State Department.
Carballo decided to join Cuban Medical Professional Parole, an American program finalized in 2017 that allowed doctors sent by Havana to work in other countries to apply for entry into the United States.
More than 600,000 Cubans have provided medical services in about 160 countries over the past 55 years, according to the Cuban government, which argues for the solidarity of its "lab coat diplomacy."
Carballo worked in Belize, Venezuela and later in Brazil, but denounces that it was neither voluntary nor humanitarian. Today, he works at an Amazon warehouse in Kentucky as he cannot practice.
In Venezuela, she says she lived “under constant harassment and stress,” with restricted movements and unable to relate to Venezuelans.
For almost 20 years, Caracas has been Cuba's main political ally and oil provider, which has repaid it with thousands of doctors, sports coaches and military advisers.
The doctor said that what bothered her most was having to falsify statistics on how many patients she attended, as well as requests to influence the population to vote for the late Hugo Chavez or current president, Nicolás Maduro.
Carrie Filipetti, Assistant Secretary of State for Cuba and Venezuela, said the medical program “is not intended to support countries in need,” but its goal is “to increase revenues for the Cuban regime, undercover of humanitarian aid.” .
Filipetti said doctors had his money stolen, while Havana received $ 7.2 billion in a year.
"Here at the UN our mission is to join the international community to draw attention to the abuse," said the diplomat.
Now deserter doctors are banned for eight years from returning to Cuba.
Case against PAHO for More Doctors
Cruz, Matos, and two other doctors filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Miami against officials of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for their role in the Mais Médicos program, to send Cuban doctors to Brazil.
His lawyer, Samuel J. Dubbin, told AFP that because Brazilian law did not allow them to be brought directly, Brasilia used the PAHO intermediary in Washington.
“For every dollar Brazil paid for doctors' services, PAHO sent 85% to Cuba, between 5% and 10% to doctors, and PAHO kept the remaining 5%,” Dubbin said, estimating that this represents about 100%. million dollars.
Havana left the program late last year, when then-president-elect Jair Bolsonaro denied retaining part of the doctors' salaries.
Cruz hopes the process will lead "the Cuban government to stop sending doctors" under these conditions.
Now he studies nursing and dreams of revalidating his medical title sometime “far away”.
Our career is over
Ramona Matos, 50, was in Brazil and Bolivia, where she had her documents retained.
Now he has an industrial job and cannot practice medicine because the Cuban authorities retain their necessary documents to revalidate the diploma.
“Our career is over the moment you decide to come,” said Matos.
“We don't have a specific program” to help them work in the United States, Filipetti re
