Latest news with #MaisMédicos
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Epoch Times
US Imposes Visa Restrictions on Officials, Alleging Ties to Cuba's Labor Export Scheme
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Aug. 13 revoked or restricted visas for some Brazilian, Caribbean, and African officials over their alleged involvement with a Cuban program that sends doctors abroad. Rubio said in a statement that his department revoked the visas for several Brazilian government officials, as well as former Pan American Health Organization officials and their family members, for their alleged involvement with the Cuban program as part of Brazil's Mais Médicos or 'More Doctors' initiative. The initiative began in 2013, and Cuba's involvement with it was terminated in 2018.
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
US Launches Major Visa Crackdown
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. State Department has announced sweeping visa revocations and restrictions targeting several foreign officials. Visa restrictions have been imposed on officials and their family members from several regions—including Brazil, Cuba and Grenada—for their alleged participation in facilitating Cuba's medical mission program. Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department for comment via email outside office hours. Why It Matters The latest visa restrictions signal the Trump administration's tougher approach to confronting Cuba's overseas medical mission programs and penalizing governments that participate in or facilitate them. U.S. President Donald Trump's government has deployed hard-line policies toward the communist country. For decades, Cuba has deployed medical personnel to less-developed countries, with the host nations providing payments that contribute to Cuba's foreign currency earnings. According to the U.S. State Department, numerous doctors have reported experiencing exploitation within this arrangement, which involved coordination through the Pan American Health Organization and Brazil's Ministry of Health. The U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on May 2. The U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on May 2. Samuel Corum/Sipa via AP Images What To Know U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the visas of two former Brazilian health officials, Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, had been revoked. These individuals were connected to Brazil's Mais Médicos ("More Doctors") initiative, a program that hosted Cuban medical personnel in remote areas of Brazil during President Dilma Rousseff's administration. "These officials were responsible for or involved in abetting the Cuban regime's coercive labor export scheme, which exploits Cuban medical workers through forced labor. This scheme enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care," Rubio said in a news release on August 13. Tabosa Sales and Kleiman served in Brazil's Ministry of Health during the Rousseff administration, a period when thousands of Cuban medical professionals were deployed to deliver health care services in remote and economically disadvantaged regions of the country. The State Department described Cuba's medical missions as a system that "rented" medical professionals to other nations at high prices, with most of the revenue retained by Cuban authorities. Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio pushed back on the allegations put forward by the U.S. State Department. What People Are Saying U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement: "Dozens of Cuban doctors that served in the program have reported being exploited by the Cuban regime as part of the program." Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio wrote on X, translated from Spanish: "Cuba will not abandon its medical service programs in dozens of countries. They are absolutely legitimate and, more importantly, save lives and support communities. The U.S. secretary of state is a dishonest politician, intent on causing harm at the expense of depriving many of health care services." What Happens Next It remains to be seen whether the affected countries, which include African nations, will issue diplomatic responses.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
US revokes visas of Brazilian government officials over Cuban forced labor
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department took steps to revoke and restrict visas for several Brazilian government officials, former officials of the Pan American Health Organization and their family members, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday, alleging complicity with forced labor by the Cuban government through Brazil's Mais Médicos program. The U.S. revoked the visas of Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, the statement said, who it said played a role in implementing the program while working in Brazil's Ministry of Health.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
Trump sanctions Brazilians, ex-PAHO officials over Cuban medical mission in Brazil
The Trump administration is imposing visa restrictions and revoking the visas of several Brazilian government officials, former Pan American Health Organization officials and their family members for 'their complicity with the Cuban regime's labor export scheme in the Mais Médicos program,' the State Department said Wednesday The sanctions target officials involved in a program under which former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hired over 10,000 doctors from Cuba between 2013 and 2018 to provide services in Brazil's remote areas. The program received intense criticism after government records published in Brazil showed that Brazilian officials tapped the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, to facilitate payments to Cuba and avoid oversight by Brazil's Congress. Several Cuban doctors who deserted the mission sued PAHO, claiming the organization benefited from a labor-trafficking scheme in which the Cuban government pocketed about 85 percent of the salary payments made by Brazil. The State Department did not say how many officials have been sanctioned but said it revoked the visas of Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, two former Brazilian Ministry of Health officials who the agency identified as having played a role in planning and implementing the Mais Médicos program. 'Brazil's Mais Médicos program was a diplomatic scam that exploited Cuban doctors, enriched the corrupt Cuban regime, and was covered up by both Brazilian and former PAHO officials,' a senior State Department official told the Herald. 'Let there be no doubt, the United States will continue to hold accountable all individuals linked to this coercive labor export scheme.' Tabosa worked in the implementation of the Mais Médicos program as secretary of Labor Management and Health Education at Brazil's Ministry of is still a senior ministry official, working as the secretary of Specialized Health Care. During the years the Mais Médicos program was in place, Kleiman worked as a special advisor for the Ministry of Health and as the head of its international relations department. He later worked for PAHO as its director of external relations, partnerships and resource mobilization. He is currently holding a similar position at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is one of the defendants in the Cuban doctor's lawsuit against PAHO. The State Department said that the sanctioned officials used PAHO 'as an intermediary with the Cuban dictatorship to implement the program without following Brazilian constitutional requirements, dodging U.S. sanctions on Cuba, and knowingly paying the Cuban regime what was owed to Cuban medical workers.' It added that 'dozens of Cuban doctors who served in the program have reported being exploited by the Cuban regime as part of the program.' The Herald sent comment requests via email to Kleiman and PAHO and reached Tabosa's office in Brazil by phone with a comment request. None responded. Since 2019, the US State Department has labeled Cuba's medical missions as 'forced labor.' The Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made the issue a policy priority, expanding visa sanctions against those involved in the Cuban medical missions, including foreign officials. In June, the Department imposed visa restrictions on unidentified Central American officials linked to the Cuban medical missions. The lawsuit against PAHO, which is still ongoing, alleges that the Cuban government pocketed about 85 percent of the money Brazil paid for the doctors' salaries. Brazil made the payments to PAHO, which retained a 5 percent fee, around $129 million, and forwarded about $2.5 million to Cuba's government, the lawsuit claims. The Cuban doctors who sued said part of the money received through PAHO was frozen in Cuban bank accounts until the doctors' return from the 'official missions.' The lawsuit also details how Cuban authorities, and sometimes Cuban government officials working for PAHO as 'consultants,' controlled the doctors' movements and seized their travel documents 'It is good news that the Department is beginning to enforce the law requiring visa sanctions for individuals who were involved in the Mais Médicos program, and it should vigorously enforce the law against every culpable party,' Sam Dubin, a lawyer representing the Cuban doctors. 'There is substantial documentation in the public record about Brazilian, PAHO, and Cuban officials who were responsible for the creation and enforcement of the Mais Médicos program, and the Department has undoubtedly uncovered even more evidence,' he added. 'The Cuban doctors I represent, who were trafficked to Brazil through PAHO's direct engagement, believe there is no justification for omitting any individual or organization from these Congressionally mandated sanctions.' The sanctions against the Brazilian officials will increase diplomatic tensions with Brazil. President Trump imposed a 50 percent tax on some Brazilian products over charges against former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been accused of a coup plot. And the Treasury Department sanctioned the Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes overseeing the case. This is a developing story. It will be updated.
