- “We do not have any human trafficking, the facts will show” – PM Gonsalves
- US Misinformed on Cuban Medical Mission, Says St Vincent’s Prime Minister
St Vincent’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said all data concerning the Cuban Medical Mission (Brigade) will be gathered and sent to the United States State Department, as the region stands united in defense of the programme.
“Our friends in the United States of America are mistaken on this matter,” The Prime Minister stated emphatically.
It is estimated that Cuba has more than 24,000 doctors working in 56 countries worldwide, and territories across the Caribbean. These medical personnel form an integral part of the relations between Caribbean countries and Cuba and allows various medical experts to work in the islands, providing life-saving treatment to many.
“The Cuban Professionals who are here, are happy to be here, they enter the programme voluntarily and can leave anytime…. They have compensation package equivalent to and in some cases better than persons in comparable circumstances or grades, the compensation package includes wage/salary…we provide furnished accommodation, we pay for their light and water, internet, transportation to and from home to their place of work, free medical treatment if anything happens to any of them, they have their annual holidays,” Dr. Gonsalves explained.
The Prime Minister stated that the Government also provides air fare to Cuba and back and they work no more than 40 hours per week or eight (8) hours per day unless there are emergencies and these practitioners are even permitted to practice privately and even while they are paid here, they get their salaries in Cuba.
The Prime Minister also affirmed that this country has a modern progressive regime of Labour laws, “these laws encompass too, our obligations under international conventions to which we have subscribed, and we take all of these obligations very seriously and I am hopeful that those who have wrong information, mistaken information would dispassionately look at the facts.”
