U.S. program targets medical personnel on assignments abroad
By Gary Marx
Tribune foreign correspondent
February 11, 2007
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Cesar Rodriguez left his hometown of Havana three
years ago as part of an army of Cuban doctors sent to Venezuela under an
economic accord between the two nations.
Only seven months after beginning work, Rodriguez said, he deserted his
post in northwestern Venezuela and paid a smuggler $47 to take him
illegally into Colombia.
He is now among 480 Cuban health professionals working in nearly 40
countries who have applied for entry to the U.S. under a controversial
initiative announced last summer by President Bush. Proponents call the
asylum offer a humanitarian gesture; critics say it is a futile effort
to punish the Cuban government.
Most of the defectors worked in Venezuela and either remained there to
file their petition or fled to Colombia, where they await word of their
fate.
"I'm in limbo," Rodriguez, 31, said in a recent interview. "Anxiety is
what I feel. I don't know whether they will grant it or not."
The tussle is the latest in a series of clashes that has long
characterized U.S.-Cuban relations. But the tension has intensified in
recent years as Bush tightened sanctions against Cuba, which now faces
an uncertain future after an ailing President Fidel Castro ceded power
to his younger brother, Raul.
Long known for its medical prowess, Cuba has turned health services into
an important source of revenue, diplomats say. About 28,000 Cuban
medical personnel are working in 70 countries, some of which pay for the
services.
The international medical missions also serve as a source of national
pride, boosting Cuba's image abroad, particularly in poorer countries.
But opponents of the Castro regime say offering asylum to doctors,
nurses and other medical personnel working overseas is the right thing
to do.
"The Cuban regime is using them as slave labor to meet its economic
needs at the cost of an individual's right to freedom," charged Ana
Carbonell, chief of staff for Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a
Cuban-American who supports Bush's initiative. "It's ultimately about
human freedom."
Critics: Needy patients hurt
Critics of the asylum program say Cuban health professionals are
providing vital services in impoverished nations ranging from Haiti to
Burkina Faso. Encouraging them to desert their posts hurts the
communities they serve while damaging the image of the U.S., they say.
"Cuban doctors are in areas not served by the local health system," said
Philip Peters, a Cuban expert at the Arlington, Va.-based Lexington
Institute think tank. "You will have people in those areas who will lose
their doctor because George Bush gave them a visa."
Carbonell said 45 doctors have arrived in the U.S. under the program,
and a third of the 480 applicants have been approved for entry pending a
background check. Sixty-nine others were rejected because they were not
health workers or otherwise failed to qualify.
The remaining cases are pending, including Rodriguez and his girlfriend,
Johan Mary Jimenez, 28, a physician who also deserted her post in
Venezuela and is living in Bogota.
The couple face a difficult road even if allowed entry into the United
States.
Cuban doctors who immigrate to America often work as nurses or
laboratory technicians or in menial jobs until they can pass rigorous
medical exams. Many find it necessary to learn English first.
Defectors also face other problems. Under Cuban law, medical personnel
or others who abandon their posts while on an overseas mission face up
to 8 years in prison.
Jimenez said her mother died a year ago and she couldn't attend the funeral.
"You leave behind your land, your home, your people. The people you
love," Jimenez said.
Dr. Julio Cesar Alfonso, founder of a Miami-based group that assists
fleeing doctors, said most of the Cuban medical personnel in Venezuela
who deserted their posts are in hiding, fearing that the Cuba-friendly
government will deport them to face prison terms. He said two Cuban
doctors were sent back late last year.
Program launched in August
Bush's initiative, known formally as the Cuban Medical Professional
Parole program, was part of a series of measures announced last August.
Before the new policy, Cuban doctors working abroad were granted entry
to the U.S. if they could show a credible fear of persecution in Cuba.
They also could join thousands of Cubans waiting for a regular immigrant
visa, a process that can take a decade or more.
The new system allows Cuban medical personnel to legally enter the U.S.
by applying at a U.S. diplomatic mission and waiting from weeks to
several months.
Though Cuba has dispatched its doctors and nurses overseas for decades,
the numbers soared after Cuba and Venezuela started the Barrio Adentro,
or Inside the Neighborhood, program in 2003.
Cuba now has more than 21,000 doctors, dentists and nurses in Venezuela,
many of them posted to some of the country's most violent and
impoverished areas. Patients pay nothing, while Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez ships nearly 100,000 barrels of oil a day to Cuba on
favorable terms.
But there are hidden costs. At least five Cuban doctors in Venezuela
have been killed, and others have been stabbed, raped, robbed and
assaulted, according to Venezuelan media reports and other sources.
Rodriguez and other Cuban doctors who participated in the program
believe the actual number of deaths is far higher.
Still, Cuban physicians are eager to serve overseas because it offers
them a rare chance to travel, even though they must leave their families
behind. It also is the only way for them to earn enough money to
purchase many consumer items unavailable in Cuba.
Rodriguez said he was paid $268 a month in Venezuela, roughly 15 times
his salary in Cuba.
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