​Prime Minister Stuart Young SC has addressed the issue of Cuban healthcare workers in Trinidad and Tobago, saying the programme will continue as Trinidad and Tobago is not in violation of any practices that the US has outlined.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet media at Whitehall on Thursday after returning from a meeting in Jamaica with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Young said the topic did not arise during their discussions, however he said Trinidad and Tobago is in adherence with best practices regarding the contractual engagements of Cuban medical workers in the country, and this information will be relayed to the US.
“It did not feature in our bilateral conversation. We had had certain conversations prior to my bilateral meeting with Secretary of State Rubio and just today at Cabinet I instructed the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs to work along with the Minister of Health to get our position to the United States.
“In the development of the policy, and everyone trying to understand what the United States was referring to, a number of concerns that they had, that certain things, if they were not done, would fulfil what they were describing, human trafficking [and so on], and Trinidad and Tobago has ticked every single box, so I was happy to see that…I’ve asked today…let us send our information to the United States because we certainly don’t fall in the categories of their concern at all.”
In response to questions as to whether the programme would continue, Young responded:
“The answer is yes, we’ll continue with it.”
Regarding allegations made by a former minister that the salaries of Cuban healthcare workers were going back to Cuba instead of directly to them, Young said this may have been the case under the previous government but it is not the case currently.
“That may have happened under his tenure but it certainly isn’t happening under our tenure…we actually help the Cuban medical practitioners that are contracted within Trinidad and Tobago… set up their own personal bank accounts here in Trinidad and Tobago, and that is where the government pays their salaries.
“I also can tell you that we provide passage for them to come and at the end of their contract, to leave, we provide for vacation in between, we don’t have anything to do with their passports, they hold on to their passports, we provide housing. Their terms and conditions are determined by the Chief Personnel Officer under this government.”
Young said based on a briefing document provided to him there are approximately 87 nurses and nine medical doctors.
In February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement announcing the expansion of an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy “that targets forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export program”, with a focus on Cuba’s overseas medical missions.
CARICOM heads of government spoke out in defence of the programme, emphasising its role in enhancing the delivery of healthcare within the region as well as the fair treatment of Cuban healthcare workers. (source: The Loop, March 27, 2025)

TOBAGO House of Assembly (THA) electoral representative for Roxborough/ Argyle and political leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) Assemblyman Watson Duke said Tobagonians must win in any deal with Sandals Resort.
Duke spoke with Newsday on April 8, one day following a high-level meeting between Prime Minister Stuart Young, government officials, THA officials, tourism stakeholders and the Sandals executive team, led by CEO Adam Stewart, at the Prime Minister’s residence in Blenheim.
At a media conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Central Administrative Services Tobago (CAST), Young said it was agreed to give Sandals a “clean slate.”
Sandals' return to Tobago followed an invitation by former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley.
The government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sandals for a resort to be built in Tobago, but negative publicity about the project resulted in the luxury hotel pulling out of the deal.


Duke, who was part of the meeting on April 7, said the discussion for Sandals' return is on and he will be a part of the process. He said all hotels of a five-star nature are welcome, but “we have to look at it in a detailed way when the discussion takes place.”
He said for any five-star hotel to come to the island, there must be three wins.
“The first win, the hotel must win. The brand of hotel must win, that’s the reason for business. People want to make a profit on the dollar.
"Second, the THA must win. You can’t come and make the House of Assembly look like a dolly house, it must be respected as a house of legislature.
"And the third win – which to me is the most important win – is the win for the people. Unless the people of Tobago can win, there is no need for any hotel whatsoever in Tobago.”
When contacted on April 8, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said he agreed with the decision to re-invite Sandals and to have them make a “fresh pitch or fresh proposal” to the island.
“In other words, we’re saying that all of the former arrangements are now null and void. We are not pursuing anything in the former arrangement whatsoever and we want to start the conversations on a fresh page. Looking at basically everything from start.”
He said Sandals has agreed to develop a proposal for investment, which he said is an interesting sign.
“Sandals made the point yesterday that their preferred model of development is one where they build their own hotel using their own capital or money, and that too is welcomed information."


He said he was happy for the progress that was made during the meeting, adding that the Assembly remain committed to continue this discussion after the general election on April 28.
Questioned on the THA’s stance that Tobago wants a Sandals on the island but on its own terms, he said: “Given that we are starting brand new and there is currently nothing on the table, we are very much open to discussions.”
He said the only grouping not invited to the meeting was the environmental groups, however he was “assured that they would be definitely included in the conversations going forward.” (Source:  Newsday, April 8 2025)

A young Trinidadian doctor’s stellar academic achievement is a source of immense pride for the country as well as his peers and colleagues in the medical profession.
On March 13 Dr Panduranga Dattatreya Seetahal-Maraj, 37, MBBS MRCS, FRCS Neurosurgery, received the prestigious Norman Dott Medal for outstanding performance in the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) Neurosurgery examinations.
He obtained the highest marks overall in the UK. While the examinations were conducted in 2023, the felicitation ceremony to present the award was held in Belfast, Ireland, earlier this month.
He presented the UK’s first and largest case series on fetoscopic repair of neural tube defects at the event.
Dr Seetahal-Maraj is the first Caribbean doctor to obtain the highest marks in the rigorous FRCS examinations.
He is a neurosurgeon at the San Fernando General Hospital and is employed by the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA). He is currently on a leave of absence from SWRHA and is a Senior Clinical Fellow at Kings College Hospital in London, where he is midway through the paediatric neurosurgery fellowship programme.
Dr Seetahal-Maraj is a former national scholarship winner (science),and has published several papers in local, regional and international medical journals.