April 12 marked the seventh anniversary of the abduction of Cuban doctors Landy Rodríguez Hernández and Assel Herrera Correa, yet the Cuban government remained silent, continuing a trend of diminishing public acknowledgment. The independent outlet Diario de Cuba has highlighted this silence with accounts from individuals close to the doctors' families.
The two doctors were kidnapped on April 12, 2019, in Mandera, northeastern Kenya, while traveling in a convoy with armed security from their residences to the Mandera Referral Hospital.
The attack was attributed to the jihadist group Al-Shabaab and resulted in the death of a Kenyan police officer. Mandera was known as a high-risk zone due to its proximity to Somalia, which had a history of assaults on foreign personnel.
In February 2024, Al-Shabaab released a statement via Telegram claiming the doctors had died in a U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) airstrike in Jilib, Somalia. However, this claim was never independently verified. In June 2024, AFRICOM stated that their operation "did not result in civilian harm."
The anniversary passed without any public acknowledgment from Cuban authorities. The families' silence appears to be driven by fear rather than indifference.
Diario de Cuba gathered testimonies from people close to the families, who expressed concerns about potential reprisals, such as losing state support, travel restrictions, and the loss of any tenuous channels for information about their loved ones. Consequently, the families have neither granted interviews nor launched public campaigns for answers.
In 2024, the Cuban government admitted it lacked "information or evidence to confirm whether the doctors are alive or dead" and pledged to investigate. Yet, two years on, there has been no official confirmation of the doctors' status or evidence of conclusive efforts to resolve the case or recover remains.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated in April 2025 that efforts "to clarify their situation" were ongoing, but he offered no tangible progress.
Seven years after the kidnapping, the case of Rodríguez and Herrera highlights three sensitive issues the Cuban regime prefers to avoid discussing: the exposure of Cuban personnel to high-risk environments without public safety assessments, the opaque contractual terms governing their deployment, and the political manipulation of information when Cuban medical missions face crises.
Key Questions Surrounding the Abduction of Cuban Doctors in Kenya
What happened to the Cuban doctors kidnapped in Kenya?
The Cuban doctors, Landy Rodríguez Hernández and Assel Herrera Correa, were abducted in April 2019 in Mandera, Kenya. The jihadist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, but their fate remains officially unconfirmed.
How has the Cuban government responded to the doctors' abduction?
The Cuban government has largely remained silent, with no official confirmation of the doctors' status. In 2024, they promised to investigate but have yet to provide any conclusive information or results.
What are the concerns of the families of the abducted doctors?
The families fear potential reprisals, such as losing state support or travel restrictions. They have avoided public campaigns to preserve any existing channels for information about their relatives.