U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked or restricted visas on Wednesday, for certain officials from Africa, the Caribbean, and Brazil tied to Cuba’s overseas medical worker programme, citing concerns over forced labour and financial exploitation.
Brazilian Health Ministry official Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and former Pan American Health Organisation official Alberto Kleiman were among those affected.
Rubio did not name other officials who were affected but said they were from Africa, Cuba and Grenada.
The U.S. claims that the programme rents Cuban medical professionals to other countries at high prices, with most of the revenue going to Cuban authorities, depriving Cuban citizens of healthcare. Rubio said Washington aims to end such practices and urged governments to pay doctors directly.
Cuba has condemned the move, calling it a pretext to attack its foreign currency income.
"Cuba's medical cooperation will continue," Johana Tablada, Cuba's deputy director of U.S. affairs, said on X.
Meanwhile, Brazilian officials defended their 'Mais Medicos' programme, created in 2013, saying they will not yield to what they call "unreasonable attacks."
The measures continue the Trump administration’s hard-line approach toward Cuba, reversing previous Biden-era policies.
A nor’easter bringing heavy rain and strong winds has caused widespread flooding across New Jersey....
Brussels has become the stage for a pivotal shift in Central Asia’s energy policy, with a focus on sustainable development, access to investment, an...
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina postponed a planned national address on Monday after a group of soldiers threatened to seize the headquarters...
The European Union’s next wave of eastward enlargement, particularly involving candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe, could prove decisi...
Venezuela has closed its embassy in Oslo, Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday, days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the 2...
A nor’easter bringing heavy rain and strong winds has caused widespread flooding across New Jersey.
Brussels has become the stage for a pivotal shift in Central Asia’s energy policy, with a focus on sustainable development, access to investment, and geopolitical reorientation towards Europe.
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina postponed a planned national address on Monday after a group of soldiers threatened to seize the headquarters of the state broadcaster, according to the presidency.
Venezuela has closed its embassy in Oslo, Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday, days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
A nor’easter bringing heavy rain and strong winds has caused widespread flooding across New Jersey.
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina postponed a planned national address on Monday after a group of soldiers threatened to seize the headquarters of the state broadcaster, according to the presidency.
The European Union’s next wave of eastward enlargement, particularly involving candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe, could prove decisive for Europe’s energy security and competitiveness.
Venezuela has closed its embassy in Oslo, Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday, days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
NATO is reinforcing its eastern flank as Italy deploys Eurofighter Typhoons to Estonia, Finland opens a new Northern Land Forces Command, and European allies push for a continent-wide “Drone Wall” following Russian drone incursions that exposed gaps in the alliance’s air defences.
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