As a newly minted U.S. citizen, Ramona Matos, once a doctor in Cuba, did not hesitate when deciding whom to vote for last year.
She chose Donald J. Trump, the candidate who promised to be tough on Cuba’s communist government.
She hoped he would help free the Cuban people and, in particular, put an end to a tool the government in Havana has used to soften its image around the world — one that Ms. Matos found particularly repugnant for personal reasons.
For decades, the Cuban government has sent thousands of health professionals to work in remote villages and cities in dozens of countries, where they get just a fraction of what the countries pay Cuba for their services.
“Those doctors are slaves to the Cuban dictatorship,” said Ms. Matos, 63, who, after posts at Cuban medical missions in Bolivia and Brazil, is a factory worker in South Florida.
Beginning on his first day in office, Mr. Trump has started tightening the screws on Cuba, including on its global medical program.