In a stunning reversal by an administration that had championed their presence in the region perhaps more than any other, Antigua’s government is preparing to abruptly send home dozens of Cuban medical personnel serving in the federation, replacing them with a rather large brigade from Ghana.
While condemning the move as ungrateful to Cuban doctors, nurses, and biomedical engineers, the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) has dubbed the move as one designed to politically and diplomatically suck up to the Trump administration, which has been railing against the age-old but contractual payment arrangements for the brigade.
As the cabinet of Prime Minister Gaston Browne saw it, the Cubans were regarded as “the core of our healthcare service,” as Browne boasted about the skills of his foreign service and foreign policy, which had allowed the federation to be “friends of all, enemies of none.”
But now the administration is singing a different tune. This follows a recent revelation from the UPP and local commentators that 120 Ghanaian professionals will soon replace the Cubans. Browne’s office has not made any formal announcement. Its failure to deny the opposition’s statements came just days after the White House blacklisted nationals of Dominica and the federation traveling to the US.
Leading UPP leaders including lawmaker Sherfield Bowen, said the government is “heartless” and is palpably mishandling a program that has been so useful to the country.
“It says that we are just an ungrateful bunch, and that we do not treasure and value the assistance and the support of our friends. What are you going to say to them face-to-face? What are you going to say to them? Just leave? I think the government is trying to placate itself and try to make friends with the State Department by announcing that they are going to jettison the Cuban brigade and the Cubans who have been so generous to us over many decades in health care, in education, in public works,” Bowen told Observer Radio in a recent interview.
Several Caribbean Community nations, including the federation, The Bahamas, and Guyana, had earlier this year signaled plans to change the current payment system for the Cubans, awarding them their full monthly pay rather than allowing the Cuban government to hand them less than 20 % of their earnings in keeping with decades-old contractual arrangements.
The Trump administration has been applying withering pressure on nations using the current payment system, threatening to cancel entry visas for anyone connected to the program.
The UPP is capitalizing on visa revocations for citizens and the bribery scandal. Chairperson Gisele Isaac says it is now clear that interviews with Ghanaian officials took place outside the country months ago.
“To say nothing to the very people whom these new medics will be treating and who will be paying their salaries is not only disrespectful but suspicious. We guess that the least important people-that is, the taxpayers-were not important enough to be told in advance,” she said.
She argued that no mention was made of the cabinet’s plans during the annual throne speech, the budget presentation, or during the budget debate, or by the minister of health or the minister of foreign affairs.
