MIAMI, United States. – 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 from 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.
However, the IMSS acknowledged that it does not know how much of that amount was allocated to the salary of each doctor, since the hiring was managed directly by the Cuban company. “The IMSS does not maintain an employment relationship with them, nor does it direct their activities,” the agency said.
The three agreements covered different periods, with amounts of up to 1.6 million euros per month. Despite these figures, the IMSS said it had no information on the units to which the Cuban doctors were assigned.
On July 16, 2024, during the morning conference of the current Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez ObradorZoé Robledo, director of IMSS, announced that up to that moment there were 950 Cuban doctors in 23 states of Mexico and that the arrival of 2,700 new specialists was expected to strengthen care for patients without social security under the IMSS-Bienestar program. However, despite the request for transparency made by The Universalthe IMSS did not offer further details on the current agreements or the future of this agreement.
Between July 2022 and August 2023, 809 Cuban doctors were deployed in 15 states of the Aztec country, but 48 of them abandoned what the island’s regime calls “internationalist medical missions.”
Cuban medical missions
The “Cuban medical missions” They have been widely criticized by the international community and described by multilateral organizations as a “form of modern slavery.”
At the end of last year, the United Nations (UN) put the Cuban regime in the spotlight for their violations of the human rights and labour issues, especially with regard to its medical professionals deployed on “international missions”. The accusation also implicates host countries such as Italy, Qatar and Spain.
For his part, Tomoya Obokata, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, in November 2023 led a letter to the Cuban representation before the Human Rights Council, in which it warns about the persistence of patterns that resemble “forced labor,” as defined by the indicators of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The Cuban “missions”which include professionals from various fields such as doctors, teachers, engineers, and artists, among others, are described as situations of labor exploitation in the destination countries. The report points to inadequate salaries, confiscation of passports, restrictions on movement and surveillance by Cuban government agents, as well as cases of sexual harassment or violence, threats and physical violence.
The text also mentions ongoing accusations based on testimonies from Cuban exporters and analyses of agreements and contracts, highlighting “numerous violations of basic human rights.” The special rapporteur emphasizes the importance and value of Cuban medical cooperation at the international level, but highlights concerns about violations of fundamental rights such as privacy, freedom of expressionassociation and circulation.
In response to these allegations, the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the Human Rights Council has denied applying pressure or reprisals to those who choose not to participate in these missions. However, Obokata maintains that many professionals are forced to participate due to government coercion. Cuban regime and factors such as poverty and limited availability of employment on the Island.
