Congressmen from the US and Mexico denounced this Friday that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador violates the terms of the Mexico-US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (T-MEC) by accepting the “slave” work of doctors sent by Cuba.
The representative of the 27th district of Florida, María Elvira Salazar, joined the deputy Mariana Gómez del Campo and the senator José Alfredo Botello, both from the Mexican Congress, to denounce what they consider “human trafficking” by López Obrador and his Cuban counterpart Miguel Díaz-Canel.
“In chapter 23 of the T-MEC it says very clearly that the signatories cannot get involved in human trafficking or forced labor. Cuban doctors sign contracts without knowing what their salary is. In the end, they only receive 5% of what Mexico is paying the Castro regime, and we don’t know how much it is because Mexico doesn’t want to reveal the figures,” Salazar said at a press conference in Miami, Florida.
The Republican congresswoman warned the Mexican president that by signing agreements with Havana he is becoming “an accomplice in the misery of Cubans” on the island and assured that he has already sent a letter to the US Department of Labor to investigate Mexico and its possible violation .
The export of professional services, especially in Medicine and Education, is one of the main sources of income for the Cuban government.
The so-called medical missions are made up of highly qualified specialists, although activists denounce that undercover Cuban security agents travel with them. According to figures released by Havana, more than 20,000 professionals from the island work in some 55 nations.
Several human rights organizations have denounced the contracts of these professionals as a form of “modern slavery”, since the Cuban government keeps more than 70% of the salary that countries pay to employ doctors, who only receive a small percent.
The Cuban government has never revealed salary figures or the percentage it receives for the work of its professionals abroad.
The Mexican Mariana Gómez del Campo recalled that with the COVID-19 pandemic, 500 doctors arrived in Mexico and said that “now 500 more are going to arrive” to be assigned to rural areas, in what she called “the perfect pretext to sustain what It is clearly a constant violation of the human rights of these people.”
“The rights to privacy, freedom of expression, association and free movement are being violated. Cuban doctors have to deliver a passport upon arrival, they are prohibited from participating in public events, maintaining friendly relationships and relationships with other people who do not think as the Cuban Government dictates,” insisted the deputy.
The T-MEC entered into force July 2020 as an improved version of the previous agreement agreement, before López Obrador came to the Mexican Presidency. The agreement eliminates tariffs on exports between Mexico, the US and Canada, promotes investment, free trade and job creation.
“If a country negotiates with the US, it has to respect Human Rights. If López Obrador ignores the request, he puts the T-MEC in danger, which would be a big problem for Mexico,” Salazar stressed.
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