and threatens to investigate them
Honduras follows in the footsteps of Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
By 14ymedio
HAVANA TIMES – The Government of Honduras under its new President Nasry Asfura has ended the agreement with Cuba over the sending of its doctors promoted two years ago by then-President Xiomara Castro, an ally of the Island’s regime. The Secretary of Communications, Jose Augusto Argueta, confirmed that the departure of the specialists was due to a “foreign policy decision.”
At the same time, National Party congresswoman and vice president of the National Congress, Johana Bermudez, stated this Monday that the Government will push for an investigation into the group to determine whether they were truly healthcare workers. “That political relationship brought in a large number of personnel, and we never knew whether they were doctors, nurses, or spies,” she said in an interview with the channel HCH Noticias.
The departure of the specialists has created uncertainty among the population, who fear for the continuity of the Operation Miracle program in ophthalmology clinics run by Cuban specialists. Jose Augusto Argueta clarified that “the centers will not be closed.” Regarding one center that was not offering services, he said this “could be due to political pressure.”
Likewise, the secretary specified that the five centers—“one in Siguatepeque, two in Santa Bárbara (Colina and Arada), one in Catacamas, and another in the Central District”—are active and will be operated by Honduran doctors.
For his part, Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Midence said that work is underway to “hire Honduran or foreign doctors duly accredited before the Medical Association.”
The AFP news agency reported the departure of 128 Cuban specialists. This Monday, doctors from the Island who had been providing services at an ophthalmology clinic said goodbye to residents of San Jose de Colinas, in the department of Santa Barbara. “We are leaving knowing that we cared for you, that we worked for you, and hopefully we could return. This is our farewell,” said one of the physicians.
According to Gonzalo Valerio, a member of the Honduras-Cuba Friendship Association aligned with the Cuban regime, the specialists are waiting for the coordination of a charter flight to take them back to the Island in early March.
Honduras follows in the footsteps of Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which ended their medical cooperation projects with the Island following pressure from Washington. Last June, the United States announced the revocation of visas for Honduran officials from the Secretariat of Health (Sesal) and the Secretariat of Strategic Planning over the Cuba doctor program.
The US government has denounced that these Cuban government missions involve the “coercion” of health professionals, who are sent to work in third countries under opaque contracts, with low wages and severe restrictions on their freedom.
Congresswoman Johana Bermudez added that the country transferred significant sums of money to Cuba through the so-called medical brigades, a scheme that, she said, was questioned at the time. “We denounced it as the opposition, and so did the Honduran Medical Association,” which stated that, in addition to lacking the proper accreditation to practice in the country, the Organic Law of the Medical Association was being violated.
Two years ago, the Honduran Medical Association asserted that the Honduran government was paying the Island $2,000 per doctor, in addition to guaranteeing them housing, a vehicle, and food.
The presence of Cuban doctors in Honduras began in 1998, following Hurricane Mitch. As part of the relationship with the Island, the Central American country’s government also agreed to send 170 general practitioners to the Island to train in one of the 23 specialties offered by Cuban universities.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
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