Just as he did in accusing the World Health Organization (WHO) of being “China-centric,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is now accusing the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the WHO’s regional adjunct for the Americas, of colluding with Cuba, allegedly serving as its “intermediary” so that Cuban doctors can be sent into poor countries to help them combat coronavirus or other diseases. Pompeo charges that Cuban doctors, who have deployed to several Caribbean and Ibero-American nations at those governments’ request, are nothing more than “forced labor,” exploited by their own government. Hence, he argues, any government that invites them is guilty of “human trafficking” of allegedly “abused” medical professionals.
The Miami Herald reported June 29 that the Trump Administration has suspended funding to PAHO—it is $110 million in arrears—and by mid-June had contributed nothing to PAHO’s appeal of $98.4 million in special funding needed for the regional coronavirus response.
Pompeo’s specific claim is that PAHO failed to disclose its role in the “Mais Médicos” (More Doctors) program by which, beginning in 2013, Cuban doctors provided medical assistance in remote areas of Brazil. In a June 10 press conference, reported by CNS News, he warned that “just as we did with the World Health Organization, the Trump Administration will demand accountability from all international organizations that depend on American taxpayer resources. Our money must support things that create value and support our values.” PAHO, Pompeo alleges, is “facilitating forced labor by Cuban doctors in Brazil’s Mais Médicos program,” in which, he asserted, 10,000 Cuban doctors had been “trafficked.”
