Rep. Green Leads Bipartisan Resolution Denouncing Cuban Human Trafficking

Representative Mark Green (TN-07) introduced a bipartisan resolution denouncing Cuban human trafficking to call out Cuba’s medical brigades.

VOC’s President and CEO Dr. Eric Patterson is quoted in the press release saying:

“Cuba’s so-called ‘Medical Brigades’ are an affront to the human rights and dignity of the doctors pressed into service of the Communist Party. Make no mistake, Havana uses these medical professionals as a PR campaign in third world countries, forcing doctors to work in dangerous conditions, while withholding pay and keeping the profits for regime officials in Havana. It’s high time that we call this communist scheme for what it really is—human trafficking.”

Read the full press release below:

WASHINGTON—Rep. Mark Green (TN-07), alongside Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Carlos Gimenez (FL-28), and Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), introduced a Congressional Resolution denouncing the human trafficking, forced labor of, and profiteering from Cuban medical personnel serving around the world. The resolution is endorsed by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, Cuba Archive, and Victims of Communism.

Rep. Green said, “Forcing anyone into compulsory labor for profit is wrong; the Cuban regime’s medical personnel trafficking operation is no different. For years, the Cuban regime has violated the fundamental rights of its own healthcare workers, from infringing upon their privacy and freedom of movement to hindering their right to freedom of speech and association. This medical servitude must come to an end.” 

Green continued, “The Cuban regime’s aim isn’t altruism, but profit. Cuban doctors receive only a small fraction of their earnings, and only when they return to Cuba. It’s time to give Cuban healthcare workers the dignity and respect they deserve. One way we can do this is by revoking visa authorities for foreign organization officials who participate in Cuba’s human trafficking of medical personnel. This resolution calls on President Joe Biden to do just that.” 

Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Maria Elvira Salazar said, “The Cuban Medical Missions are a sinister human trafficking scheme and form of modern slavery. Socialist leaders like Xiomara Castro in Honduras who exploit the labor of Cuban doctors should face the consequences.” 

Rep. Carlos Gimenez said, “The murderous regime in Havana is the largest, most cynical perpetrator of human trafficking in our hemisphere. Cuban doctors are trafficked like modern day slaves, their wages are garnished and they are exploited in the most inhumane conditions imaginable. As the only Cuban-born Member of Congress, I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation to hold the Castro regime and its international accomplices accountable.” 

Cuba Archive said, “Cuba Archive strongly supports Congressman Mark’s Green resolution calling for minimal sanctions—visa revocations—against the Cuban regime’s partners in the abusive export labor trafficking schemes presented as international “missions.”

Tony Costa, President, Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba said, “No other government in the world would accept its own citizens being mistreated and exploited like Cuba does to its medical personnel overseas.  It is a crass profit-making scheme masquerading as humanitarian concern. We are indebted to Chairman Green for this initiative that stands up for the basic human rights of these most vulnerable Cubans and puts foreign officials on notice that they will be held accountable by the United States for participating in this immoral and degrading activity.” 

Dr. Eric Patterson, President and CEO Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation said, “Cuba’s so-called ‘Medical Brigades’ are an affront to the human rights and dignity of the doctors pressed into service of the Communist Party. Make no mistake, Havana uses these medical professionals as a PR campaign in third world countries, forcing doctors to work in dangerous conditions, while withholding pay and keeping the profits for regime officials in Havana. It’s high time that we call this communist scheme for what it really is—human trafficking.” 

Background: For years Cuban medical personnel have been forced to operate in countries around the world under coercion, often having their wages, credentials, and passports confiscated. In addition to this, many workers are subjected to surveillance and strict curfews, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Person Report. Many of these medical professionals work in extremely difficult conditions for up to sixty hours a week and are subject to reprisals for speaking out, including possible prison time. While many countries are paying these doctors US$125 to $325 per month, the doctors only keep 10-25 percent of that amount, according to the Harvard International Review.  

• Read the 2023 letter Rep. Mark Green (TN-07), Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), and Rep. Carlos Giménez (FL-28) sent to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) here. 
• Read a letter Rep. Green and his fellow lawmakers sent to President Biden urging him to implement a Cuba policy that holds the regime accountable for its human rights abuses and support for authoritarian regimes in the region. 
• Read Rep. Mark Green’s oped on Cuba in the Miami Herald here. 

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