Last Updated on March 27, 2020, 7:55 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The United States of America has attacked Cuba’s medical-aid missions around the world, with the Trump administration is now pressuring other countries to reject the aid from Cuba during the coronavirus pandemic.
It is noteworthy that Cuba has played a leading role in the global frontier which is fighting against the outbreak of the coronavirus and has sent medical teams and aid to help in some of the countries which are worst affected by the virus, including Italy.
Cuba has also provided supplies of the interferon alfa-2b, the drug which has proved to be very useful in the treatment of COVID-19. This drug has been used in the treatment of more than 1,500 coronavirus patients and is also one out of the 30 drugs chosen by the Chinese National Health Commission to fight the novel coronavirus.
However, America has claimed that Cuba’s goal was not to stop the spread of Covid-19 and aid the countries around the world. The original motive behind the help offered by Cuba is to recover the money lost by the country.
The US embassy in Havana has falsely accused the Cuban Government of withholding the salary of doctors and nurses in international aid missions and exposing them to terrible working conditions.
While around two dozen missions are being offered by Cuba free of charge, the other countries are paying Cuba for the missions around $6.3billion (£4.8bn) a year.
Meanwhile, under pressure from the United States, several right-wing Governments have already asked the medical missions to leave.
One of these countries was Brazil, and the President of the country, Jair Bolsonaro expelled most of the 10,000 doctors from the country and also called them terrorists disguised in uniforms.
After that, he has been forced to take an embarrassing U-turn and to plead the Cuban medical teams to return to Brazil as the nation is struggling to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Also, the United States has tightened sanctions on some countries, including Venezuela and Iran.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
