An Italian region is defying US pressure to isolate as much as possible Cuba, by continuing to employ Cuban doctors to help its battered health system.
Calabria, the Southern region at the tip of the Italian peninsula and the country’s poorest region, has been running a programme to bring in Cuban doctors since 2023. Some doctors had already come to Italy during the COVID pandemic in 2020.
Cuba, in general, has had, for decades, a long-standing programme to send its trained doctors and nurses across the world, especially to poorer countries. Cuban officials said that they currently have around 22,000 medical personnel in 55 countries. However, recent pressure from the Trump administration led many to end those partnerships. That’s what happened in Jamaica, which ended a 50-year partnership with Cuba. Donald Trump has tightened the grip on Cuba since the beginning of 2026 and openly spoke about regime change.
Surprisingly, Calabria stands with Mexico as one of the few places to defy US pressure. Currently, around 200 Cuban medical personnel are in the region, located in remote hospitals and essentially running them. Local authorities have repeatedly said that without the Cubans, the health system of the region will collapse.
Calabria’s governor, Roberto Occhiuto, has so far refused to bow to US pressure. The US even sent its charge d’affaires to Cuba, Mike Hammer, and the consul general of Naples in the region to persuade him to drop Cuban assistance. Hammer said that they would appreciate alternative sources for international assistance. Occhiuto told AP that the Biden administration also tried to halt the programme, but that pressure has now ramped up.
The reason for the defiance is not ideological; Occhiuto is a politician from the centre-right party Forza Italia, and the region as a whole has always steered right. However, with many local doctors moving away from the region, hospitals continuing to close, long queues for treatment and visits, and a general emergency, there is really no strong reason for Calabria to withdraw the help it receives from Cuba. Occhiuto even said he would like to triple the Cuban personnel to 1000, but has refrained so far to avoid the wrath of the US.
The US maintain that its opposition to the programme, in Calabria and elsewhere, is due to accusations of human trafficking and enslavement, as US authorities have stated that Cuban doctors are not free and they don’t get wages. Occhiuto has rebuked this claim, at least for his region’s involvement with Cuban personnel. He said their personnel get paid in their Italian bank accounts and directly to workers. They also have individual contracts, not through the Cuban government. Recently, 63 Cuban doctors applied to work in Calabria independently, although it is unclear whether they did so as part of Cuba’s general programme or as individuals.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
