Cuban regime following the departure of doctors from Honduras: "Depriving a country of sources of income is a crime."

The Cuban regime reacted informally following the news of the departure of doctors from the island who were providing services in Honduras. The response came from the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who described it as a "crime" to deprive a country of its legitimate sources of income.

The statement was published on the social network X as a direct response to a report by Bloomberg which reported that Honduras has become the latest nation to dispense with Cuban medical workers amid pressures from Washington to cut funding sources to the Havana government.

"'Choke' is the correct word," wrote the diplomat, referring to the term used by the American media. He added: "Depriving a country of quality medical services is a crime. Depriving another of legitimate sources of income is collective punishment, which is also a crime."

The message not only defended the healthcare work of the brigades but also exposed the economic dimension of medical service exports, which have been considered the country's main source of foreign currency in recent years.

The official reaction comes after the Honduran government decided not to renew the agreement that allowed the presence of 128 Cuban doctors in its territory. The contract expires next week and the specialists will return to the island at the beginning of March, local authorities confirmed.

Tegucigalpa assured that Cuban professionals will be gradually replaced by national or accredited foreign doctors, in a decision that the Secretary of Communications of Honduras described as part of a new direction in foreign policy.

The movement in Honduras joins the gradual withdrawal announced by Guatemala and similar decisions taken by other countries in the region. Together, these measures strike at a framework that for years has been presented by Havana as an example of international solidarity, but which simultaneously represents one of the financial pillars of the Cuban state.

The Bloomberg report framed the Honduran decision as part of a strategy by the United States to limit the sources of income for the Cuban government, noting that each cancellation of medical agreements reduces the flow of foreign currency to the island.

Fernández de Cossío's response, by denouncing "collective punishment," shifts the debate into the political realm and highlights the regime's increasing concern over the loss of contracts abroad, at a time when the Cuban economy is experiencing one of its worst crises in decades.