Republican lawmakers in South Florida are joining forces to condemn the Cuban regime ending its partnership in the “Mais Medicos” program in Brazil.

The partnership comes to a close as incoming Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sets on tightening requirements for Cubans coming into Brazil to practice medicine. With Cuba ordering residents to return home, Mais Medicos are suing, citing that the communist regime is engaged in human trafficking.

46% of Mais Medicos professionals in Brazil are Cubans.

Carlos Curbelo, outgoing Florida Representative, commented that “For too long, the Cuban regime has abused and exploited the forced labor of their medical professionals to line their own coffers.  I am proud to support these victims of the regime in their quest for justice and fair compensation for their service.”

Mario Diaz-Balart asserted that “For far too long, the brutal regime in Cuba has profited from the human trafficking of medical professionals. Shamefully, reports indicate that rather than protecting the rights of these health workers to humane working conditions, fair wages, and freedom of movement, the Pan American Health Organization instead facilitated the sale of Cuban medical labor to foreign countries such as Brazil. While Cuban health care workers toiled in difficult conditions for paltry salaries, the regime in Cuba profited handsomely.  Even worse, the regime sometimes was lauded on the world stage for its trafficking in medical professionals as though it was behaving charitably, rather than perpetrating a lucrative scheme of exploiting its medical professionals.”

Finally, Retiring Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen noted that “It is important that we pursue justice using all available means for the Cuban doctors to not be exploited. That is why I led and filed along with Mario and my congressional colleagues, a friend of the court brief that would allow lawsuits against U.S.-based international organizations like PAHO. Cuban doctors and anyone who has been a victim of human trafficking should be able to recover damages from any entity that sponsors or profits from such a terrible practice. As Americans it is our duty to support people’s freedom from this economic slavery and we, in Congress and beyond, will do all that we can to ensure that these medical professionals are treated in a humane and fair manner. Our U.S. laws are clear when it comes to human trafficking and no person or organization is above that law.”