- U.S to expand visa restrictions on Cuba & complicit third countries
As the U.S. seeks to broaden its restrictive policy concerning Cuba, the designation of St Vincent as a complicit third country in relation to Cuba’s exploitative labour export program remains uncertain.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio articulated the following statement in a post on X.
“The United States is expanding its Cuba-related visa restriction policy, and the State Department has taken steps to restrict visa issuance to Cuban and complicit third-country government officials and individuals responsible for Cuba’s exploitative labour export program.”
Rubio, in his post on X, further stated that the U.S. will promote accountability for the Cuban regime for oppressing its people and those who profit from forced labour.
On Wednesday, Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent, articulated the following:
“Some persons in the US Congress have been saying, mainly Republicans, that the doctors and nurses who come down here are part of trafficking in people. I don’t know how it is trafficking in persons. If you call it trafficking in persons, then it loses all meaning because we are paying them, and it’s done very openly and very transparently.”
Rubio stated that the health service of Cuba produces significant export revenues through the deployment of doctors and health professionals globally.
The United States has already enacted limitations on various individuals, including certain Venezuelans, he noted.
Cuba`s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, lashed out at the restrictions, calling the measure part of Rubio`s “personal agenda” and unjustified.
On Tuesday, Rubio branded the labour programs as self-serving and abusive.
“Cuba’s labour export programs, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country,” Rubio said.
The relationship between the United States and Cuba has been characterised by tension since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro, during which a trade embargo imposed by the U.S. has persisted for many years.
