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Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cuban regime, posted this Sunday on X a series of messages in which he held the U.S. State Department and what he referred to as "mafioso politicians from South Florida" responsible for depriving tens of thousands of people in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa of access to healthcare services.
In his thread, the official stated that "the criterion for success in the aggressive U.S. policy against Cuba is also measured by the number of communities, the tens of thousands of people from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and other parts of the world who are deprived of access to health services."
In a second message, Cossío completed his argument by stating that "this deprivation is the result of the pressure imposed on the respective governments of those communities by the State Department and mafia politicians from South Florida."
The deputy minister's statements come amid a rapid withdrawal of Cuban medical brigades from several countries, driven by pressure from the Trump administration.
Since January 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed visa restrictions on officials from countries that hire Cuban doctors, labeling the program as "a horrific practice of modern slavery" and "forced labor."
At least four countries have canceled or not renewed their contracts with the brigades for 2026.
Jamaica ended nearly 50 years of cooperation in March; Honduras did not renew its agreement, and 168 Cuban doctors had to leave the country; Guatemala announced the gradual end of the program; and Guyana also closed its agreement.
The Cuban regime defends its missions as "solidarity cooperation," but international organizations and the U.S. government indicate that the State retains between 60% and 97.5% of the salary paid by the recipient countries.
In Mexico, for example, a Cuban doctor receives only 200 dollars from a monthly payment of 3,750 dollars.
The program generates more than 4.9 billion dollars annually for the regime and is one of its main sources of foreign currency.
In the same thread, Cossío added a third message with an ideological tone in which he stated that "capitalism gave rise to modern slavery and the slave trade, fascism and Nazism, apartheid and Zionism, and the business of human trafficking and narcotics," although he acknowledged that "it also promoted advancements in science and culture and enriched the most powerful."
This is not the first time that the deputy minister has been involved in controversial incidents on social media.
In May, he referred to those who support a military intervention in Cuba as “accomplices”, and in June, he responded to Rubio's latest measures, describing the sanctions as “extraterritorial” and “far-fetched.”
The European Parliament approved Amendment 311 in April 2025, which also classifies Cuban medical brigades as "modern slavery," aligning with Washington's stance.
Cuba currently maintains over 16,000 health collaborators in 50 countries, according to data from the regime itself, a number that could further decrease if pressure from Washington on recipient countries continues to escalate.
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