WILL CUBA BE FORCED TO GIVE UP THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF PHYSICIANS AND MEDICAL STAFF TO THE CARIBBEAN?

As history appears to be repeating itself (cf. Gunboat Diplomacy, circa 1898), with an American armada of warships cruising in racetrack patterns just of the coast of Cuba, plus drones flitting continuously over its territory, we wonder aloud whether the Trump Administration will, as part of any negotiated arrangement with Cuba's autocratic leadership, force the country to terminate what is essentially a human trafficking operation in the Eastern Caribbean. The American position is that the onerous conditions surrounding the placement of Cuban doctors and media staff to the Eastern Caribbean states has been, and is, Human Trafficking, and that it must cease forthwith.

Given the reluctance of both Cuba and several of the Caribbean states that are recipients of these services, which the U.S. holds is little more than indentured servitude, bordering on legalized slavery, to cease this arrangement, America has taken a strong position. Will it be a major factor in any Trump deal with Cuba's leaders? We believe it will.

What the effect will be on the availability of medical care in the Eastern Caribbean states, whose own nationals who become doctors often end up abroad permanently, we cannot say, but they may have to make hard choices if they want adequate levels of care for their citizens.

Given that, at present, and due to in part to severe energy shortages, there is presently a backlog of 100,000 Cubans waiting for surgery, including 12,000 children. Perhaps the Cuban Government might consider recalling the all doctors that they have dispatched abroad, in exchange for hard currency, so that they can care for their needy patients at home. It's high time to repatriate them; take care of your own first.