Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that Cuban doctors participating in missions abroad are still paid "their full salary" corresponding to their work in Cuba for the duration of their time outside the country, and he defended that there is no exploitation in that system.
The statement was made during an interview with Pablo Iglesias, in which the Cuban leader also claimed that those who are part of these brigades receive, in many cases, an "additional fee" related to the fulfillment of the mission.
Díaz-Canel explained that there are "various modalities" in the Cuban medical missions.
He pointed out that in some countries, Cuba has sent personnel "free of charge" and that in those cases "we do not charge anything for the medical brigade," unless the receiving country ensures the well-being of the deployed personnel.
He added that in other destinations, the conditions depend on the contracting government's ability to pay for those services.
In that context, the leader stated that "all Cubans participating in the medical mission in Cuba continue to receive their salaries during the time they are fulfilling the medical mission."
With that statement, he presented the scheme as one in which professionals maintain their salary security while they are out of the island.
Is there no exploitation?
Díaz-Canel added that, “in many of the medical mission contracts,” participants also receive “a fee or a redistribution.”
According to her explanation, this income is added to what “they would earn if they were working in Cuba,” even though they may not be providing services in the country at that moment. “In other words, they have a salary guarantee,” she emphasized.
Based on that argument, he categorically rejected the allegations of exploitation regarding the medical missions program.
“Therefore, there is no exploitation and there is a willingness on their part to participate,” he stated in the interview, defending that the inclusion of doctors and other healthcare workers in those brigades is a voluntary decision.
The ruler also acknowledged that, in some agreements, the Cuban government or the Ministry of Public Health receives money for services rendered abroad.
However, he denied that those resources are used for the benefit of a political or economic elite. “But what is that money used for? To enrich an elite?” he questioned, before responding that those funds are allocated to cover expenses of the national health system.
In his presentation, Díaz-Canel stated that this money is used to keep the Cuban healthcare system running, which he described as that of "a powerhouse" despite Cuba being, in his words, "a poor country."
He assured that this system features advanced technologies, a coordinated primary, secondary, and tertiary care structure, coverage for the entire population, and support for high-level scientific research.
On that basis, he described the allegations that equate medical missions with forms of slavery, human trafficking, or labor exploitation as a “fallacy.”
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