Could the VI receive visa sanctions for using Cuba’s overseas medical mission?
A US State Department statement further clarified that the sanction extends to “current and former” officials and the “immediate family of such persons.”
Over the last six decades, several Caribbean nations including Jamaica, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada as well as countries in Latin America have benefitted from Cuba’s overseas medical mission without US interference.
Notifications for sanctions
Caribbean governments have since begun receiving formal notifications from the United States regarding its intention to sanction states and government officials involved in facilitating Cuba’s medical assistance programme.
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Grenada confirmed that the formal notification from the US State Department arrived on Thursday, March 6, 2025, and it is believed that other governments in the region have since received the official correspondence.
Cuba assisted VI during COVID-19 pandemic
In 2020, the Virgin Islands turned to Cuba for support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, July 25, 2020, some 22 medical professionals, including internist doctors, emergency response doctors, intensive care specialists and nurses from the Republic of Cuba arrived in the Virgin Islands.
Those medical personnel have since long returned; however, there are reportedly still some Cuban doctors employed by the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA), although not necessarily through Cuba’s Medical Assistance Programme.
So far, the Virgin Islands has not received any correspondence from the US regarding possible sanctions.
“We’ve had no correspondence from the United States on this matter,” Andrea Blumire, the Policy and Communications Officer in the Governor’s Office told our News Centre.
Caribbean leaders defend Cuba's overseas medical mission
Meanwhile, Caribbean leaders have been defending Cuba’s overseas medical mission even in the face of possible sanctions.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia A. Mottley says she is even prepared to have her United States (US) visa revoked as she urged Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries to ensure they are able to explain “what the Cubans have been able to do for us” as they seek to defend the Cuban health brigade programme.
“This matter, with the Cubans and the nurses, should tell us everything that we need to know. Barbados does not currently have Cuban medical staff or Cuban nurses, but I will be the first to go to the line and to tell you that we could not get through the (COVID-19) pandemic without the Cuban nurses and the Cuban doctors,” Mottley said in a statement in Parliament.
The Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago prime ministers have publicly expressed their support for the Cuban programme.
Prime Minister Dr Ralph E. Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed the US threats of sanctions, stating that his country is prepared to continue its long-standing arrangement with Havana.
Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said that the issue needs to be clarified with the US government and believes that “common sense” will prevail.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dickon A.T. Mitchell has also defended Cuba’s overseas medical assistance programme.
“We are clear that we have a legitimate partnership with the people and government of Cuba, who have, over several decades, provided support to Grenada in the medical field. We will continue to support and defend this partnership,” the Prime Minister said.
_01.png)
Follow Us On
10 Responses to “Could the VI receive visa sanctions for using Cuba’s overseas medical mission?”