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The Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar celebrated this Tuesday the decision of the Honduran Government to not renew the agreement that allowed the presence of a brigade of 128 Cuban doctors in that country.
“Honduras said ENOUGH to the Cuban dictatorship,” Salazar wrote on the social media platform X, where she described the so-called "medical missions" as “a business disguised as solidarity” and stated that these programs have exploited Cuban professionals and funded repression on the island.
"The cycle of modern slavery under Castroism in our hemisphere is beginning to close," asserted the lawmaker.
End of the agreement
The contract, signed during the administration of former president Xiomara Castro, will expire next Wednesday. The current administration of President Nasry Asfura has decided not to extend the agreement, as confirmed by Communications Secretary José Augusto Argueta.
"The departure of Cuban doctors is a foreign policy decision," the official stated to the local channel HCH.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Eduardo Midence, stated that the brigade will be replaced by Honduran or foreign doctors who are duly accredited by the Medical College of the country.
According to Gonzalo Valerio, a member of the Honduras-Cuba Friendship Association, the 128 specialists are awaiting the coordination of a charter flight to return to the island at the beginning of March.
Regional impact
Honduras joins other countries that have terminated similar agreements with Havana. Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda recently canceled these agreements, while Guyana has raised the possibility of paying Cuban doctors directly following pressure from the United States.
Washington has labeled these programs as "forced labor" schemes, while the Cuban government maintains that they are a form of international cooperation in health.
In Honduras, one of the main programs developed by the brigade was ophthalmological care through the so-called Miracle Mission. According to official figures, by October 2025, around 44,000 consultations and nearly 7,000 surgeries had been performed.
Honduran authorities indicated that the clinics providing these services will not close and that care will continue under the responsibility of new professionals.
Source of income for Cuba
The deployment of medical brigades represents one of the main sources of foreign currency for the Cuban government, which maintains such agreements in several countries.
Honduras' decision comes amid increasing international pressure regarding these programs and heightened political scrutiny in the region.
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