It looks like a clever twist on the barter system has reared its head in the Western Hemisphere: slavery. And who are the slaves? The crown jewels of Cuba’s highly-touted medical system: doctors and nurses.

Seven Cuban doctors and a nurse sued Cuba, Venezuela and the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) for alleged conspiracy to force them to work in conditions of “modern slaves” in order to pay off the Cuban debt with the Venezuelan government for oil supply.

The defendants “intentionally and arbitrarily” held the health staff in “debt servitude” and the staff became “economic slaves” and “political advocates,” according to the complaint filed in the United States, Efe reported.

In the complaint, the leading defense attorney Arístides Cantón argued that the plaintiffs travelled to Venezuela in “deceit” and “threats,” and were forced to work unlimited hours in a social welfare program known as “Mission Barrio Adentro,” in areas with high rate of crime.

But, isn’t Cuba an absolute model for healthcare, not to mention, governance? That’s certainly what Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, and other useful idiots in Hollywood would have us believe. Of course, every doctor enslaved to Venezuela is one fewer for the Cubans.

Hat-tip: MayHunter at Moonbattery