Which African nations are included in the sanctions have not been specified in a statement issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, nor the names of the Officials involved.

Marco Rubio announced the visa restrictions last Wednesday which applies to officials from African countries and Grenada, a Caribbean island nation. The restrictions were for hiring Cuban medical missions, which Washington describes as forced labor.

Rubio said, “Today, the Department of State is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on several African, Cuban and Grenadian government officials complicit in the Cuban regime’s coerced forced labor export scheme.”

He added, “The United States will take the necessary measures to end this forced labor and I urge countries to pay doctors directly for their services, not the regime slave masters.

““We call on all nations that defend democracy and human rights to join us in this effort to confront the Cuban regime’s abuses and support the Cuban people.” 

The State Department also announced that, ” We are also taking steps to revoke visas and impose visa restrictions on several Brazilian government officials and former officials from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), whom wen consider complicit in the Cuban regime’s coerced forced labor export scheme.”

However,  a Cuban Government Official said, “We categorically reject Washington’s accusations and denounce what is a smear campaign against ours cooperation program and its doctors, present in several Latin American and Caribbean nations, along with some twenty African countries.”