By Roberto Morejon 

Two recent publications in separate media outlets offer contrasting versions of Cuban medical services abroad, one accurate and the other distorted.

The Botswana Guardian and Midweek Sun highlight the enormous benefit of the presence of a medical brigade from the largest of the Antilles in the African country.

The publications refer to the contribution of 90 doctors, dentists, radiologists, and biomedical engineers in Botswana and interviews some of them, who emphasize that the service is based on a government agreement, reviewed periodically.

Each participant in the mission works under the laws of Cuba and Botswana, under conditions similar to those of Cubans and foreigners.

The white-coated professionals sent by Havana emphasize that a financial stipend covers their housing, transportation, basic needs, and paid annual vacations.

They emphasize that in their country they receive their full monthly salary and are guaranteed positions upon their return.

Having been present in Botswana for some time, the Cuban health workers deserve government recognition.

The latter considers their performance positive in improving the population's access to specialized care.

Such a reliable view of the work of Cuban health workers in Botswana differs sharply from that reported by The New York Times.

The newspaper echoed the obsession of the Donald Trump administration, specifically the State Department led by Marco Rubio, with the Caribbean archipelago's medical brigades.

The New York Times reproduces stereotypes from the U.S. about what it calls human trafficking or slave labor when referring to the work of Cuban doctors in other countries.

The newspaper even includes statements from a Cuban-born doctor living in the United States and from a person identified by highly credible sources as an agent paid by Washington to discredit the land of José Martí.

As the Cuban government has denounced, the US State Department's crusade specifically seeks to prevent Havana from obtaining legitimate income from services abroad, largely used to sustain the free healthcare system in the Caribbean country.

The US campaign is as redundant as it is twisted, but the Cuban government reported that despite this toxicity, none of the countries that maintain health agreements with the Caribbean nation have expressed a desire to withdraw their collaborators.