AREQUIPA, Peru – “The hiring of Cuban doctors is presented as a measure of cooperation and solidarity for marginalized regions, but behind these statements a deeply exploitative system operates,” highlighted Mariana Gómez del Campo, president of the Christian Democratic Organization of America.
Through a column in the newspaper The Herald of Mexicothe directive criticizes the so-called “Cuban medical missions”, one of the most profitable businesses of the Castro regime on the Island.
Although it seems like a strategy to address the lack of medical personnel, Gómez del Campo points out, the hiring “conceals a harsh reality: the use of Cuban health workers under a human trafficking scheme, denounced internationally and encouraged by opaque agreements between the Mexican government and the Díaz-Canel regime.”
The author’s complaint transcends after the arrival of 199 other doctors Cubans to Mexico on November 25, who join the more than 3,000 professionals who work in the Aztec country.
“These practices violate fundamental human rights, but the Mexican Government ignores the complaints and the ethical implications of this model (…) This policy does not respond to the shortage of doctors in the country, but to the ideological closeness of the Mexican Government to the Cuban regime” , he emphasizes in the article.
The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) reported that it paid 472 million 441,229 pesos to the company Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, SA for 610 health professionals on the Island.
The payment was made in euros (23 million 241,156 euros), according to the three agreements signed between July 2022 and December 2023, to which the Mexican newspaper had access The Universal.
In this regard, Gómez del Campo highlighted that the island’s specialists are “merchandise to sustain the Cuban economy through their exploitation” and they receive preferential treatment from the authorities in Mexico. In contrast, “thousands of unemployed Mexican doctors face precarious working conditions and low salaries.”
Likewise, the Mexican columnist regretted that instead of strengthening the national health system, the Government of her country allocates resources to this scheme, violating both the rights of Cuban doctors and the principles of labor justice for local professionals.
“With this decision, the Mexican Government once again places itself on the wrong side of history. We will not get tired of report this fact at an international level, because the world has to know that the missions of Cuban doctors are synonymous with modern slavery that Mexico supports and perpetuates,” he stated.
Cuban doctors in Mexico: insecurity and exploitation
The Cuban doctors will work alongside Mexican colleagues as part of an agreement between the governments of Mexico and Cuba. This agreement places Caribbean specialists in the units of the IMSS Bienestar program, which operates in areas with difficult access and a shortage of health personnel. “The solidarity and experience of our doctors willing to save lives. “Cuba saves lives,” highlighted the Cuban diplomatic representation in its statement.
Some of these areas where specialists are inserted are dominated by drug trafficking and with high levels of insecurity.
Although the arrival of Cuban doctors has been promoted as an act of solidarity, these international missions have generated controversy due to the working conditions imposed by the Cuban regime. Human rights organizations have denounced that doctors sent abroad work under a model that they describe as “modern slavery.”
Under this system, doctors receive only a fraction of the salaries paid by the recipient countries, while the rest of the money is retained by the dictatorship. In addition, professionals are often subject to strict mobility restrictions, constant surveillance and pressure to prevent them from abandoning missions.
The export of medical services It is one of Cuba’s main sources of income, even surpassing tourism. This practice is sustained at the expense of the labor and human rights of health professionals, who are not free to negotiate their conditions or the destination of their income.
In the case of Mexico, the hiring of Cuban doctors has generated criticism both for the doctors’ working conditions and for the lack of transparency in agreements with the Cuban government.
The Aztec administration has been promoting the hiring of Cuban doctors for more than four years. The last presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador disbursed $5,188 a month to support each of the island’s doctors. They have also limited the scholarships to study abroad that they grant to Mexican university students, leaving Cuba, despite the conditions on the island. , as the main and even only option.
