Diplomatic Denial: U.S. says it never told St. Lucia to drop Cuban Medical Program - but ...

Last week, Saint Lucia's prime minister stated that, under US pressure, Saint Lucia would halt sending medical students to be trained in Cuba. The US now denies talking to Saint Lucia recently about it's medical ties to Cuba. However, the US Embassy did reiterate US encouragement to seek alternatives to receiving "trafficked" Cuban doctors.

Related:
• US Demands Saint Lucia Cut Ties with Cuban Medics (The Voice (St. Lucia - Feb. 4)
• US denies having talks with Saint Lucia regarding students studying in Cuba (Saint Lucia Times - Feb. 4)
• US says Caribbean has alternatives to Cuban medical missions (Trinidad and Tobago Guardian - Feb. 6)

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Source: Caribbean Life

Diplomatic Denial: U.S. says it never told St. Lucia to drop Cuban Medical Program

By Bert Wilkinson
Posted on February 5, 2026

In what is shaping up to be an embarrassing snafu for St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip Pierre, the U.S. government has denied ever ordering St. Lucian authorities to abandon the Cuban medical brigade program, saying there have been no bilateral exchanges on the issue in recent months.

Through its mission in Barbados, which serves many of the smaller Eastern Caribbean island nations, the State Department said the island was exercising its sovereignty over issues like education for its citizens, but appeared to double down, saying it had not pressured the recently reelected administration of PM Philip on the issue.

Speaking at an international conference at the weekend, Pierre said that the U.S. had indicated that the traditional system of sending local students to study in Cuba should come to an end. He also appeared to suggest that Cuban doctors might not be able to practice in the country, also because of pressure from the U.S. The U.S. has raged against the payment system, calling it a form of forced labor and human trafficking because the Cuban government gets the majority of the monthly salaries of the professionals.

PM Pierre says the American edict will prevent major political headaches for authorities.

“Many of our doctors got trained in Cuba, ...

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Read more: https://www.caribbeanlife.com/diplomatic-denial-u-s-says-it-never-told-st-lucia-to-drop-cuban-medical-program/