PUBLISHED: Dennis Minott | Puppa Jezas, wa dis Rubio deh seh?

For nearly half a century, Cuba’s medical missions have been a beacon of hope, a lifeline to the forgotten and forsaken across the Global South. From rural clinics in Jamaica and the Caribbean to remote villages in Africa and Latin America, Cuban doctors and nurses have brought healing, compassion, and solidarity.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Yet, in an astonishing display of hypocrisy and imperial arrogance, Marco Rubio has dared to smear this noble effort as “forced labour”. Puppa Jezas, wa dis Rubio deh seh? (Lord Jesus, what is this Rubio saying?)

Is this ignorance or deliberate deception? Has Rubio ever set foot in one of the struggling clinics where Cuban doctors work tirelessly to save lives? Has he ever spoken to the communities that would be left to die without their presence? Or is he so blinded by his commitment to empire that he cannot see the suffering of the poor?

This is not merely an insult. It is an act of calculated cruelty, a direct assault on those most in need. It stinks. Rubio’s words are not just a lie. They are a US visa weapon aimed at dismantling one of the few global healthcare systems that prioritise human dignity over profit. This is the same brand of American deceit that covertly sneers at our nations as ‘sh***’ while ensuring that we remain shackled to their overpriced pharmaceuticals and predatory medical systems. And who benefits when Cuban doctors are driven out? The poor? Or the rapacious private healthcare industry that thrives on their suffering?

DARES TO CRIMINALISE

Rubio — a man whose servility to empire is rivalled only by his lust for political favour — dares to criminalise Cuban doctors while his own government upholds a global health apartheid that rations care based on wealth and geography. Where was Rubio’s outrage when Big Pharma refused to share life-saving COVID-19 vaccines with the developing world? Where was his voice when US sanctions strangled medical aid to Venezuela, Iran, and even Cuba itself?

But even more disgraceful than Washington’s wickedness are the Jamaican sycophants who bow, scrape, and grovel, pretending that this vicious assault on our healthcare lifeline is somehow principled policy. Have we no spine? Have we no memory? Are we so eager to please our imperial masters that we will abandon those who have stood by us in our darkest hours? The true allies of the Caribbean people are not those wielding American visa sanctions as weapons against the sick and vulnerable. History will judge harshly those Jamaicans who betray their own in service of Washington’s putrid disdain.

Cuba’s medical missions are not just a service. They are a moral triumph. For decades, Cuban doctors and nurses have worked tirelessly in some of Earth’s most wretched spaces, often at great personal sacrifice. They have healed the sick, trained local healthcare workers, and saved countless lives. In Jamaica, Cuban medical professionals have been a godsend, working hand in hand with their Jamaican counterparts in underresourced hospitals like Port Antonio and Annotto Bay. Does Rubio know this? Does he care? Or does he only care about pleasing the same warmongers who would rather see us beg than stand on our own feet?

I know this not from theory, but from lived experience. Cuban doctors and nurses helped my fellow Jamaicans at the woefully under-resourced Port Antonio Hospital to save my life more than once, and they have trained over 19 members of my A-QuEST group of gifted adolescents to do likewise for the wretched of the earth in “sh***” places. Is that forced labour, Rubio? Or is it what real humanity looks like?

THIS IS SOLIDARITY

This is not “forced labour”; this is solidarity. It is the embodiment of the Cuban Revolution’s commitment to humanity, a commitment that has endured despite decades of relentlessly brutish US sanctions and hostility. What kind of nation punishes doctors for healing the poor? What kind of leader weaponises lies against those who save lives? Cuba’s medical missions are a testament to the power of compassion over greed, of cooperation over exploitation. They are a rebuke to the neoliberal order that treats healthcare as a commodity rather than a human right.

Rubio’s attack on Cuba’s medical missions is not just an attack on Cuba; it is, by design, an attack on all of us in the Global South who have benefited from their generosity. It is an attack on the very idea that healthcare should be a universal right, not a privilege reserved for the wealthy. It is an attack on the principle that no one should be left to suffer or die simply because they are poor or live in a so-called “sh***” country. And tell me, Rubio, what exactly do you propose as an alternative? More overpriced American hospitals? More IMF-imposed austerity measures that gut public healthcare? More suffering?

Jamaica—and CARICOM—must not cower. We must not allow Rubio’s lies to go unchallenged. We must not betray the Cuban doctors and nurses who have stood by us in our time of need. Are we a people of dignity, or are we content to be Washington’s lapdogs? Do we value our own sovereignty, or will we let empire dictate who gets to save our lives?

Cuba’s gift to humanity is not for sale. It is not a commodity to be traded or a weapon to be used in geopolitical games. It is a lifeline, a beacon of hope, and a reminder that another world is possible.

I have seen Cuban compassion firsthand, not just in Jamaica but in Ethiopia, where I worked for UNIDO, and in Mexico, where I served at el IMP as a senior design instrumentation and controls engineer in their vast energy sector. In these lands, as in Cuba itself, I have witnessed the power of solidarity and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of relentless US government malevolence. Cuba’s unwavering commitment to the Global South is a moral triumph, and Rubio’s disgraceful attack on it is yet another imperialist crime against the most vulnerable. But will we remain silent? Will we let empire dictate our reality? Or will we rise, defend our allies, and proclaim that justice, not servility, defines who we are?

Puppa Jezas, wa dis Rubio deh seh? It is the voice of empire, dripping with hypocrisy and arrogance. It is the voice of a man who would rather dish out harm in US State Department shovelfuls to see the poor suffer than acknowledge the humanity of those who seek to heal them. But it is also a call to action, a reminder that we must stand firm in our commitment to justice, compassion, and solidarity.

Jamaica and CARICOM must rise to this challenge. We must defend Cuba’s medical missions, not just for what they have done for us, but for what they represent: the belief that healthcare is a human right, that no one should be left behind, and that another world is possible. Are we ready to fight for this truth? Or are we too busy bowing to our masters?

Cuba’s gift to humanity is not for sale. It is a testament to the power of compassion, solidarity, and hope. And it is a rebuke to the imperial arrogance of men like Marco Rubio, who would rather see the world burn than acknowledge the humanity of those who seek to heal it.

Puppa Jezas, wa dis Rubio deh seh? It is the voice of empire. But it is certainly not the voice of the American people. And it is most certainly not the voice of justice.

Dennis Minott, PhD, is the CEO of A-QuEST-FAIR. He is a multilingual green resources specialist, a research physicist, and a modest mathematician who worked in the oil and energy sector. Send feedback to a_quest57@yahoo.com or columns@gleanerjm.com

by Dennis A. Minott, PhD.

March 10, 2025.