Guatemala

Executive summary

Since 1998, Cuba's medical mission in Guatemala spanned 28 years, accumulating 11,327 collaborators before Guatemala announced non-renewal on 8 February 2026, ending the program amid an ongoing Ministerio Público investigation into unlicensed personnel, with sources disputing whether only 20-30% of "brigadistas" were genuine physicians. Repatriation figures diverge across sources (26 versus 58; 420 versus 412 total), suggesting inconsistent reporting. Documented labor violations include passport confiscation, residential confinement, salary retention ($335 average against $390,000 monthly government payments), and surveillance, alongside mandatory political activities and falsified medical statistics. Behind every inaugurated clinic stood a confiscated passport. Statistics were rewritten as often as contracts were broken.

Mission data

Research profile