Former PAHO officials slapped with US visa sanctions over Cuban medical missions

The United States has revoked visas and imposed restrictions on former Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) officials, Brazilian government officials, and their family members for their roles in what it calls the “Cuban regime’s coercive labor export scheme” in Brazil’s Mais Médicos program.

- Advertisement -

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the targeted individuals were “responsible for or involved in abetting the Cuban regime’s coercive labor export scheme, which exploits Cuban medical workers through forced labor.” He said the program “enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care.”

According to the State Department, officials used PAHO as an intermediary with the Cuban government to implement the program without following Brazilian constitutional requirements, dodging U.S. sanctions on Cuba, and knowingly paying the regime money owed to Cuban medical workers. “Dozens of Cuban doctors that served in the program have reported being exploited by the Cuban regime as part of the program,” the department said.

The department named Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman among those whose visas were revoked, saying both individuals “worked in Brazil’s Ministry of Health during the Mais Médicos program and played a role in planning and implementing the program.”

Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales is a Brazilian Ministry of Health official, and Alberto Kleiman worked at PAHO as Director of External Relations until 2022.

Rubio said the move “sends an unmistakable message that the United States promotes accountability for those who enable the Cuban regime’s forced labor export scheme.”

The announcement came the same day the State Department imposed visa restrictions on African, Cuban, and Grenadian government officials and their families for their involvement in similar Cuban medical mission programs in which medical professionals are “rented” by other countries and most of the revenue is kept by Cuban authorities.

Rubio did not name the specific African countries or officials. He, however, urged governments to “pay the doctors directly for their services, not the regime slave masters” and called on nations that support democracy and human rights to confront “the Cuban regime’s abuses and stand with the Cuban people.”