At one point, our boycott would not let fertilizer through so they had to develop better ways to garden organically.
"Cuba sends doctors on medical missions. The U.S. isn't a fan"
"Is it a praiseworthy humanitarian effort or an affront to human rights?
That's the debate swirling around a Cuban program that sends tens of thousands of doctors and other medical professionals abroad to care for people.
Cuba proudly says these "medical brigades" show solidarity with their fellow countries in the Global South. But the program is not solely altruistic. It's also one of the largest sources of foreign money for the island as the countries receiving the small army of health workers pay Cuba for them.
The U.S. State Department has long been critical of this system, alleging that the participants are coerced and underpaid by the government. In a statement to NPR, the State Department calls it "forced labor" and "human trafficking."
Now, the Trump administration is ratcheting up the pressure on countries to pull out of these arrangements with Cuba. A number in Latin America and the Caribbean are falling into line. Among the nations yielding to this pressure are Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Paraguay and Honduras. They're phasing out the programs, reevaluating the payment model and sometimes canceling altogether.
Here's how it works — and why it's so controversial.
The backstory
The program began more than 60 years ago and typically provides medical aid to impoverished communities and rural, underserved areas — often in lower-resource countries like Angola, Guatemala and Venezuela but in some high-income countries as well. For example, a Cuban team went to Italy to help out during the early years of the COVID crisis."
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/24/nx-s1-5746626/cuba-doctors-mission-blockade
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