The overseas brigades generate huge revenues for Cuba’s communist government, making it a crucial economic lifeline for the country. The missions are also a way of increasing Havana’s soft power. However, Fonseca rejects critics who say health workers are being exploited in order to fill the regime’s coffers. “This is a total lie,” he said. “There is no obligation for us to do this. We are here because we want to be here. We also learn from the experiences. It is a two-way exchange.”

I’m surprised they had the honesty of letting the actual Cuban person talk

Italy remembers when Cuban doctors came to save them from Covid, at a time when everybody else just stood by and watched.