Jorge Castañeda’s warns AMLO about opening the door to Cuban doctors in Mexico.
MEXICO (Agencies) – The former head of Mexico’s Foreign Affairs, Jorge Castañeda, questioned the presidential consideration of bringing in medical personnel from Cuba, the Caribbean nation presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Derived from the world crisis of coronavirus, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he is considering bringing Cuban doctors specialized in intensive care to Mexico. This statement, which opens the door for foreign medical personnel to cover faculties of the Mexican State, has been severely criticized by many in Mexico, amongst those: Jorge Castañeda Gutman, former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), during Vicente Fox presidency.
“In honor of the truth, (López Obrador) did not say that he would do it, but he did say that he would consider it, (which) is very questionable from various points of view,” the Princeton University graduate began his analysis for the Latinus media.
Latinus is a new media outlet founded in the United States whose purpose is to reach Latin American audiences in that country. The recent creation of this platform is due to the broad demographic that Latinos represent in the 52 states of the United States. Currently, Latinos are the first minority in the United States, and Spanish is the second most spoken language in that country.
The first observation Castañeda makes is that in Mexico, what is lacking are job openings for doctors, not physicians. In other words, the service that Cuba could offer is unnecessary for the country, since the lack of health personnel is not necessarily a conflict for Mexico; “perhaps there is a problem with some young doctors who do not necessarily want to go to the areas of the country where they are most needed, but in their social service they do so a lot and have been doing so for many years.”
A second reflection is regarding the conditions in which Cuban doctors work abroad. “From Angola in the 1970s to Italy in 2020, the Cuban government charges a fortune in salary -to the government of each country- for each doctor that goes, but the doctor only receives a tiny fraction of that amount. Most of the money is kept in Cuba so that the health professional does not abandon the task and go to the United States”.
Jorge Castañeda also pointed out that the relatives of the doctors are kept in Cuba as hostages; for that reason, it is a modern form of “slavery or human trafficking.”
Jorge Castañeda, the son of another former Foreign Minister during López Portillo’s presidency, noted in his video column that among the doctors are Cuban security and intelligence personnel.
A brigade of 52 Cuban doctors and paramedics traveled to Italy to assist the health services of that country, the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Not all doctors are spies, but many of the spies are doctors. And this is something that is well known because Cuban medical missions abroad have a long history,” the analyst said.
And finally, the most substantial consequence that the former federal official foresees is that the US government will not see with good eyes that relationship with Cuba. “Donald Trump will not allow subsidized oil to Cuba, and no Cuban doctors in Mexico.” Castañeda Gutman said: “the president (AMLO) is playing with fire”.
Last Tuesday afternoon, the first group of ten Cuban doctors arrived in Mexico with the idea of sharing points of view to fight COVID-19
