The U.S. government announced on the night of Wednesday (13) the revocation of visas for employees of Brazil’s Ministry of Health who worked during the implementation of the Mais Médicos program, reports Metrópoles. The measure was disclosed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Sanctions hit Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales, Secretary of Specialized Health Care, and Alberto Kleiman, director of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA) for COP 30, former International Relations Advisor to the Ministry of Health and former Director of External Relations of the Pan-American Health Organization (OPAS). The decision prevents them from entering U.S. territory.
On Twitter, Rubio described Mais Médicos as an “inconceivable diplomatic scheme of foreign medical missions,” accusing Brazil and OPAS of acting as intermediaries to facilitate the sending of Cuban doctors to the country and evade U.S. sanctions against Havana.
“O Departamento de Estado está tomando medidas para revogar vistos e impor restrições a vários funcionários do governo brasileiro e ex-funcionários da OPAS cúmplices do esquema de exportação de trabalho forçado do regime cubano”, escreveu o senador.
“The State Department is taking measures to revoke visas and impose restrictions on several Brazilian government officials and former OPAS employees complicit in the Cuban regime’s forced labor export scheme,” wrote the senator.
According to the State Department statement, the Brazilian government used OPAS as a bridge to make payments to Cuba, instead of passing them directly to the doctors who participated in the program. Washington claims that dozens of professionals reported exploitation and wage retention by the Cuban government.
The U.S. State Department also accuses Brasília of ignoring internal “constitutional requirements” to enable the agreement, which was ended during Jair Bolsonaro’s government and resumed under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration, this time without Cuban professionals.
Diplomatic Escalation
The measure is part of a broader U.S. offensive against what Rubio and the State Department call Havana’s “forced labor export.” Earlier, U.S. diplomacy had announced the revocation of visas for authorities from Cuba, African countries, and Grenada.
The decision reignites tensions between Brasília and Washington, which in July had already escalated with the cancellation of visas for eight ministers of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), in an attempt to interfere in the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Source: www.brasil247.com