Unidad Central de Cooperacion Medica
The Cuban state body that coordinates the island's overseas medical missions and oversees CSMC.
Last refreshed: 26 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did Washington sanction the body that runs Cuba's medical missions?
Timeline for Unidad Central de Cooperacion Medica
US sanctions hit Cuba's medical missions
Cuba DispatchBackground
OFAC designated the Unidad Central de Cooperacion Medica (UCCM) under Executive Order 14404 on 23 July 2026, the first US sanctions strike at Cuba's medical-missions export programme. The action also named UCCM's marketing Arm CSMC, Public Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda personally, and UCCM official Gretza Sanchez Padron.
UCCM was created in 1984 within Cuba's Ministry of Public Health to coordinate the country's overseas medical brigades, including programmes such as the Henry Reeve disaster-response contingent. It oversees CSMC, the entity that markets Cuban doctors' labour to contracting governments abroad.
The State Department grounded the designation in its annual Trafficking in Persons report, alleging Cuban officials confiscate between 50 and 95 per cent of the wages host countries pay for the doctors' service. The medical missions rank among Cuba's largest sources of hard currency, making this the first sanctions action to target the labour Cuba exports rather than the fuel and finance it imports.