Sarah B. Rogers, U.S. Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, condemned this Wednesday the case of Johanna, a Cuban sent abroad as part of the regime's medical brigades, who weighed only 36 kilos when she was "rescued."
Rogers, a lawyer and senior official in the Trump administration, published the testimony on her official X account and accompanied the text with a photograph of herself alongside Johanna, confirming that she met with her in person.
According to the official, Johanna received only 10 months of medical training before the Cuban regime designated her as a "doctor" and sent her abroad as part of its mission program, which Rogers described as "a mechanism for forced labor, fundraising, and propaganda for the Cuban regime."
Johanna's family never received the salary promised by Havana, and after the young woman fled, they were subjected to direct threats from the Cuban government.
"After only 10 months of medical training, Johanna was designated a doctor by Cuba and then trafficked abroad as part of its 'medical brigades.' Her family never received the promised salary, but they did receive threats from the government after she escaped. When she was rescued, she weighed 36 kilos, or 80 pounds," wrote Rogers.
The official also asked Johanna what she thought of the United States before fleeing, given that she had grown up in a closed and propaganda-driven media environment. The answer was emphatic: Johanna told her that she always knew America was "the only hope."
"For many people born under totalitarianism, the United States remains a distinctive beacon of freedom. There simply is no other place to go," Rogers reflected in his post.
The case is part of a sustained campaign by the Trump administration against the Cuban worker export program. In July 2026, Washington sanctioned the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, along with the director of the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation and the entities managing the program.
International pressure has had an impact: according to the 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report by the State Department, the number of Cuban workers on missions abroad decreased from approximately 24,000 at the beginning of 2025 to between 15,000 and 18,000 during 2026, a reduction of between 6,000 and 9,000 individuals. Four countries ended their bilateral agreements with Cuba during 2025, and Cuban missions have lost thousands of workers so far this year.
The regime retains between 50% and 95% of the salaries paid by recipient countries to their workers, while these workers receive much lower stipends. The Department of State estimates that the export of Cuban professional services generates between 6 billion and 8 billion dollars annually, with healthcare professionals making up 75% of that workforce.
Uruguay, for its part, has begun to pay Cuban doctors directly from the José Martí Eye Hospital in Montevideo, eliminating the transfer of funds to the structure of the Cuban brigade, in a gesture that reflects the shift in stance of several countries in response to pressure from Washington.
The extreme malnutrition of Johanna upon being welcomed by the U.S. and the threats faced by her family are consistent with the pattern documented in multiple testimonies. A report based on more than 1,100 statements indicated that nearly 90% of participants claimed to have been forced to join the mission or to have done so under coercive circumstances.
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