The national president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Alejandro "Alito" Moreno, demanded that Claudia Sheinbaum's government cancel the agreements with Cuba for hiring doctors and warned that keeping those agreements could jeopardize Mexico's trade relations with the United States.
The statement from the opposition leader was reported on Monday by the Mexican newspaper Publimetro, after the U.S. Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar called for an investigation into the working conditions of Cuban professionals during the review of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States, and Canada (T-MEC).
“The MORENA government must CANCEL those agreements with the Cuban dictatorship”, wrote Moreno, who supported Salazar's accusations regarding alleged forced labor practices in the medical missions of Havana.
The leader of the PRI questioned why Mexico maintains these agreements while Mexican health professionals demand better working conditions, positions, and resources to care for patients.
It is an outrageous irresponsibility to jeopardize the T-MEC and the jobs of millions of Mexicans by financing the criminal Cuban dictatorship, he stated.
Moreno also held the ruling party responsible for any commercial consequences that could arise from the controversy.
"If this scheme leads to consequences for Mexico within the framework of the T-MEC, the responsibility will rest solely with the cynical, corrupt, and shameless members of MORENA, who prioritize their commitments to a dictatorship over the interests of our country," he stated.
The intervention of the president of the PRI adds internal political pressure to a controversy that had already reached Washington.
Last Thursday, Cuban-American Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer requesting an examination of the hiring of Cuban doctors in Mexico under the labor provisions of the USMCA.
The legislator called for demanding explanations from the Mexican government and dismantling the current contracting scheme, believing it allows Cuban authorities to profit financially from the work of their healthcare professionals.
Salazar argues that doctors face mobility restrictions, separation from their families, and salary withholdings, practices that, according to his claims, constitute forced labor.
The congresswoman proposed that Mexico pay Cuban professionals directly, without the intervention of the Havana government.
The Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported on the letter and its commercial implications, particularly concerning the provisions of Chapter 23 of the treaty, which relate to labor rights and the elimination of forced labor.
The program for the recruitment of Cuban doctors was developed during the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, following an agreement signed on July 22, 2022.
According to official Mexican figures, the number of Cuban specialists rose from 869 to 3,101, distributed across the 23 states where the IMSS-Bienestar system operates.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly defended these agreements, arguing that they allow for the filling of medical positions in rural communities and areas where specialists are lacking.
The official stated that Cuban doctors are hired directly and receive salaries equivalent to those of their Mexican counterparts, a claim she reiterated in October in response to opposition inquiries.
However, journalistic investigations into the agreements have documented payments to Cuban entities and discrepancies between the resources allocated to the program and the amounts received by the professionals.
The employment situation of the members of the missions has also led to recent complaints.
On October 4th, Cuban doctors assigned to Mexico reported that they had gone more than two months without receiving their salaries and that the responsible authorities did not provide a specific date to regularize the payments.
One of the professionals stated that the delays were affecting both the deposits managed through Banjército and those related to the Banco del Bienestar.
The complaint was filed by three members of the mission and does not establish that all Cuban doctors assigned to Mexico were in the same situation.
Criticism of the program is not new among Mexican opposition parties either.
On October 13, deputies from the National Action Party (PAN) questioned Sheinbaum about the support for Cuban doctors while Mexican healthcare workers protested their working conditions.
Deputy Federico Döring then criticized the government's priorities and demanded better conditions for Mexican professionals.
Related videos:
Filed under: