Cuba’s “Medical Power” in Collapse: State-Run Forced Labor System
The first report of the Observatory for Cuban Labor Export Programs (OCLEP) reveals a dual humanitarian crisis in Cuba: the collapse of domestic healthcare and the systematic exploitation of Cuban medical professionals sent abroad under conditions that meet international definitions of forced labor and human trafficking.
Key Findings
1. Health System in Ruins
- In 2023 alone, over 12,000 doctors and 7,000 nurses abandoned the system due to collapse or reassignment abroad.
- Public health receives barely 1.8–2% of Cuba’s national budget, while tourism and real estate receive 20 times more.
- Hospitals lack basic medicines, anesthesia, gauze, and even sheets. Families must bring all supplies, often buying them on the black market.
- Children are primary victims: untreated tumors, denied surgeries, and avoidable deaths caused by ambulance delays and hospital closures.
2. Doctors Exported as Commodities
- Cuba claims 22,000 doctors abroad, but independent estimates place the number between 40,000 and 50,000 across more than 50 countries.
- Host governments pay $3,000–$10,000 per doctor/month. Medical personnel receive as little as 3–30%of their wages; in one case, 92% was confiscated.
- At least 9 of 11 ILO forced labor indicators are documented, including:
- Passport confiscation
- Restriction of movement and surveillance
- Wage seizure and threats of reprisal.
- Under the Palermo Protocol, these practices constitute state-sponsored trafficking in persons
3. A State-Run Trafficking Economy
OCLEP concludes that Cuba operates a deliberate labor-trafficking model: exporting doctors for revenue while leaving its own population without care. Donations from NGOs and diaspora are often diverted to elite hospitals or foreign patients, not Cuban citizens.
Human Cost: An estimated 5–6 million Cubans—nearly half the population—lack reliable access to healthcare.
Call to International Action
OCLEP urges governments, institutions, and human rights bodies to:
- Audit and disclose contracts with Cuban medical brigades.
- Condition aid and cooperation on transparency and human rights compliance.
- Apply U.S. and EU anti-trafficking sanctions against officials overseeing forced labor.
- Elevate Cuban victim testimonies before the ILO, UN, OAS, and Inter-American systems
“Cuba exports doctors as merchandise while children at home die waiting for antibiotics,” states one testimony.
About OCLEP
The Observatory documents labor exploitation and trafficking across Cuban state missions. This inaugural report is based on 31 field reports and over 70 firsthand testimonies gathered between July and August 2025.
FULL REPORT HERE:
https://fhrcuba.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/OCLEP-Report-September-2025.pdf