US EditionItalian region resists US pressure to curb use of Cuban doctors
Calabria's governor defends Cuban doctors as vital amid chronic staff shortages while reviewing plans to expand and considering other international medical recruits.
- On Monday, Calabria Governor Roberto Occhiuto defended the region's reliance on Cuban medics, saying they are essential to keeping hospitals open despite U.S. efforts to halt recruitment.
- Because Calabria faces persistent staffing gaps, it signed a 2023 deal for nearly 500 Cuban doctors and planned to expand to 1,000 Caribbean medical staff in 2026.
- The U.S. State Department has said Cuba's medical missions amount to human trafficking, which Havana and Occhiuto deny, amid Washington's 2023 threat declaration and last week's diplomatic trip to Italy.
- Occhiuto said he would review expansion plans this year and seek hospital staff from other parts of the world, welcoming doctors from inside and outside the EU and independent Cuban applicants.
- Calabria's limited budgets prompted reliance on Havana, whose Cuban medical missions generate vital revenue that U.S. economic measures, including a fuel blockade, could reduce.
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17 Articles
The health of Calabrians is important. But until the interests of Trump and the United States are touched upon. It was a moment for the governor of Calabria Roberto Occhiuto to move from 'we have already agreed with the Cuban authorities' to 'we decided to verify an alternative route for the recruitment of additional doctors'. In the middle, the meetings with the emissaries of the American government, but above all the disastrous Calabrian healt…
Washington is increasing pressure on Rome to stop the use of Cuban doctors in Italy, but the Calabria region is dependent on the medical profession.
The regional executive confirmed that health personnel will remain in the area despite diplomatic efforts by the United States.
Italian region resists US pressure to curb use of Cuban doctors
Cuban doctors are essential to keeping local hospitals running in Italy's southern Calabria region, its governor told a senior U.S. diplomat on Monday, rebuffing Washington's effort to halt the recruitment of medics from the Caribbean island.
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It's not just oil. The latest sanctions imposed by the White House on Cuba have also targeted its healthcare system, as well as its global reach. Donald Trump's threats have thus reached Calabria, where the hospital system has been supported for years by the help of approximately 400 Cuban doctors. The Trump administration has called for the program to be terminated, but Calabria Regional President Roberto Occhiuto has refused, emphasizing the s…
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