PARAGUAY

Cuba’s collaboration with Paraguay began in 1999 with a cultural and educational exchange agreement that brought about a hundred Cuban medical workers to the country. In 2000, the two countries signed several medical cooperation agreements; one of these was for scholarships for Paraguayan students to study at Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine. Cuban medical professionals arrived in 2001, earning a monthly salary of around $100 from the Cuban government. The communities hosting the professionals had to provide housing and food—something they failed to do, leaving it to the local government— in addition to the costs associated with the two monthly calls to Cuba allowed for the professionals. In 2003, 11 Cuban epidemiologists arrived, joining nine other doctors to constitute the Fourth Cuban Medical Brigade, to conduct research of pesticides, leprosy, aids, and Dengue research. In 2015, the Cuba-Paraguay agreement providing jobs for Paraguayan doctors who graduated in Cuba was not renewed. Operation Miracle was active from 2007 to 2015, when the Paraguayan government rescinded the collaboration agreement. Due to Covid-19, Paraguay’s Senate proposed to the Executive that the country enter into an agreement with Cuba to bring its medical professionals in exchange for Paraguay’s agricultural products; this proposal was broadly rejected by medical associations in Paraguay.

Dr. Guadalupe Linares, Chief of Cuban Medical Brigade, 2003-2005
Dr. Carlos Alberto Perea, Chief of Operation Miracle Brigade, 2015

Misión Milagro en Paraguay supera cinco mil 500 cirugías
Regresan a Cuba colaboradores de Misión Milagro en Paraguay
“Pequeñas historias de grandes hechos” (PDF document)
Unos 5,000 profesionales de la salud cubanos han desertado en diez años
Enérgico rechazo de médicos a envio de excedentes agricolas a Cuba