“Cuban doctors remain an indispensable resource for guaranteeing the stability of the Calabrian healthcare system,” Occhiuto reaffirmed during a meeting held in the city of Catanzaro on Monday with envoys from Washington, including Mike Hammer, Charge d’Affaires at the Cuban Embassy in Havana.

Hammer’s visit to Calabria, accompanied by US Consul General in Naples, Terrence Flynn, was part of the actions taken by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio against the Cuban medical missions, with threats of sanctions against nations that hire specialists from the island.

An analysis published by Calabria 7 newspaper indicates that it aims to “cut off one of Cuba’s leading sources of foreign currency,” and tighten the criminal economic, commercial, and financial US blockade against that nation, which violates human rights.

The newspaper states, “Italy, the only European Union country that still employs a significant contingent of Cuban doctors in its hospitals, has become a symbolic and political target.”

More than 300 Cuban specialists “are currently working alongside Italian doctors, in a fraternal atmosphere,” Dr. Luis Enrique Perez, head of the medical brigade, told Prensa Latina, referring to the positive feedback from health authorities and the population.

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