Overview

• The State Department revoked the visas of Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman for structuring Brazil’s Mais Médicos program and channeling payments through PAHO to the Cuban regime.
• Additional visa restrictions now apply to officials and family members from Brazil, Cuba, Grenada and unspecified African nations accused of abetting the Cuban regime’s overseas medical labor export.
• Washington alleges the Cuban government 'rents' doctors to foreign governments, retains most revenue and imposes surveillance, curfews and abusive controls on medical workers.
• These targeted measures extend earlier actions including February’s general visa bans, June’s restrictions on Central American officials and new J-1 visa social media requirements introduced in May.
• Cuba’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegations as baseless coercion and warned that cutting off its medical personnel would undermine health services in recipient countries.