U.S. Law Requires State Department to List Countries Paying Cuba for Medical Missions and Bars Aid After Two Years

Congress passed a law in February 2026 that requires the State Department to list every country or group paying the Cuban government for medical personnel and to notify those on the list. Fox News reported that the measure, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, targets nations participating in Cuba's medical missions program. The State Department must now compile the list annually.

Any country appearing on the list for two years in a row loses all U.S. foreign aid. Foreign officials involved in the program can be barred from entering the United States, and their U.S. finances and property may be frozen.

The U.S. State Department has stated that the Cuban regime confiscates doctors' passports, forces their families to remain in Cuba as leverage, assigns handlers to monitor them, and punishes families if a doctor defects. State Department reports since 2010 have described the program as exploitative, and the department labeled the practice human trafficking or forced labor in 2020.

Fox News reported that the Cuban government earns an estimated $4-8 billion annually from the missions, with regime operatives retaining 75-95 percent of payments to the doctors. A related measure for fiscal year 2027 is scheduled for a House vote soon. Guatemala, Jamaica, Guyana, St.

Vincent and the Grenadines, Paraguay, and Honduras have reduced or ended their use of Cuban doctors. The Bahamas has attempted to pay the doctors directly rather than through the Cuban government. The Trump administration has imposed visa restrictions on officials from Brazil, Grenada, and several African countries connected to the program.