Brazil’s Health Minister Alexandre Padilha defiantly vowed that the Mais Médicos program, which employs nearly 25,000 medical professionals to serve underserved areas, will endure despite U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s criticism and new visa restrictions targeting officials linked to Cuba’s doctor export initiative. In a social media post, Padilha called Mais Médicos a “life-saving” program with strong public support, dismissing U.S. allegations of forced labor as baseless. “This program saves lives and is approved by those who matter most: the Brazilian people,” he stated, emphasizing its role in addressing healthcare shortages in remote and impoverished regions.

Rubio announced visa restrictions on Brazilian, Grenadan, and other officials, labeling Mais Médicos an “unconscionable diplomatic scam” tied to Cuba’s labor export scheme, which he claims exploits doctors by diverting most of their salaries to Havana. Posts on X, including one from @SecRubio, echoed this, alleging complicity by Brazilian officials and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The U.S. State Department, under the Trump administration, intensified sanctions, citing a 2018 lawsuit by Cuban doctors who claimed PAHO facilitated human trafficking by channeling $2.3 billion to Cuba while keeping $129 million for itself.

Launched in 2013 under President Dilma Rousseff, Mais Médicos filled critical healthcare gaps, with Cuban doctors comprising 79% of its 17,625 doctors by 2015, serving over 60 million Brazilians. Critics, including Brazil’s medical associations, have long questioned the program’s reliance on Cuban doctors, who receive only 25–40% of their salaries, and its exemption from the Revalida exam for foreign doctors. Despite this, a 2020 study found the program reduced amenable mortality by 1.06 per 100,000 annually, though misallocation to non-priority areas and substitution of local doctors limited its impact.

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Padilha, who spearheaded the program as health minister from 2011–2014, relaunched it in 2023 under President Lula without Cuban doctors, announcing 2,200 new positions in March 2025. The program’s future remains contentious, with X posts from @teleSURtv highlighting Brazil’s resolve to resist U.S. pressure, while @ThayzzySmith praised Rubio’s actions as exposing a “labor export scheme.” As geopolitical tensions rise, Padilha’s commitment to sustaining Mais Médicos underscores Brazil’s prioritization of healthcare access over diplomatic friction.

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