Mexico to employ 2,700 Cuban doctors but faces opposition
By Raul Cortes
MEXICO CITY, July 16 (Reuters) -Mexico said on Tuesday it will receive 2,700 Cuban doctors to alleviate a shortage of specialists despite criticism from opponents who say it will support the communist-led Caribbean nation to the detriment of local medical professionals.
Cuba has already sent Mexico hundreds of doctors, the first wave of them arriving during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are employed by Mexico's public health service.
"In the latest agreement, in addition to the 950 doctors (from Cuba) who are already working in 23 states of the country, 2,700 of these specialties are being added... mainly in internal medicine, pediatrics and emergency medicine," the head of Mexico's Social Security Institute Zoe Robledo said in a press conference.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has defended Cuba's government and argues the country is the victim of an unjust U.S. economic blockade.
Political opponents and representatives of Mexico's medical field say the doctor agreements support cash-strapped Cuba.
While the government contends there are not enough specialists, Julen Rementaria, senate leader for Mexico's opposition PAN party, said in May there are 51,000 unemployed doctors in Mexico that could do the work being given to Cuban doctors.
Cuba's government has said its deployment of doctors around the world is its primary source of foreign income.
The U.S. State Department in May warned about "serious concerns with Cuba's recruitment and retention practices surrounding this program, exacerbating workers' vulnerability to being subject to forced labor."
NGO Prisoner Defenders alleged in a 2022 report that Cuban doctors traveled to Mexico in military planes, bypassing immigration, working under "slave-like" conditions, and receiving minimal compensation.
In 2023, Lopez Obrador's government began sending oil to Cuba from state-owned oil company Pemex. The exports were valued at $400 million in the second half of the year.
Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
