The administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has reportedly paid more than $24 million to the Cuban regime for two years of medical services provided by what many are calling "slave doctors," according to Mexican press revelations.
The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) paid the Cuban private entity Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, S.A. a total of 472,441,229 pesos for the services of 610 Cuban doctors sent by Havana on a medical mission. At the current exchange rate, this amount is roughly $24,340,000. The payment, however, was made in euros, totaling 23,241,156 euros, distributed through three agreements spanning 10, two, and five months each from July 2022 to December 2023, as per an investigation by El Universal.
Unclear Salary Distribution
El Universal's investigation highlighted that the IMSS is unaware of how much money was allocated to the salaries of the 610 health professionals included in the agreements, as the hiring process is entirely managed by the Cuban-based company. The signed agreement between the IMSS and Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, S.A. does not mention the salaries of the Cuban doctors, nor does it specify their destinations or the medical units to which these health professionals are assigned. According to the IMSS, the Mexican entity does not oversee their activities or maintain any employment relationship with them.
Opaque Future Agreements
The IMSS Transparency Unit noted that the last agreement with Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, S.A. expired on December 31, 2023. The arrival of more Cuban doctors to Mexico after this date remains uncertain, as there is no public copy of a supposed 2024 agreement, which the IMSS claims to have no record of.
In early August, Cuban Ambassador to Mexico Marcos Rodríguez Costa reported on social media the arrival of 200 new doctors at Mexico's Felipe Ángeles International Airport. This brigade was expected to join other health professionals already working in IMSS Bienestar hospitals, yet the Transparency Unit of the IMSS has no information on an agreement to that effect.
Controversial Cooperation
While the Cuban diplomat emphasized "mutual cooperation for the benefit of both peoples, humanism, and solidarity," many Mexicans view this cooperation as a veiled way to finance Havana's regime with public funds. The first agreement with the IMSS was signed on July 20, 2022, granting Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, S.A. a monthly payment of 1,177,300 euros for 11 months for the services of 610 Cuban health professionals.
A second agreement was established on May 11, 2023, lasting until July of the same year, with the Cuban entity receiving 1,636,308 euros monthly for another three months. Finally, a third Cooperation Agreement, signed on July 28, 2023, and running until December of that year, provided Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, S.A. with a monthly quota of up to 1,636,308 euros.
Legal Limbo and Uncertainty
The hiring of Cuban doctors by AMLO's government has not ceased and is expected to increase. On July 16, 2024, IMSS head Zoé Robledo Aburto announced that 950 Cuban doctors were working in 23 Mexican states. He revealed plans for 2,700 new Cuban specialists to arrive in Mexico "to strengthen medical care for patients without social security in IMSS-Bienestar programs." His statement came after a meeting in May with Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel in Havana, where both governments announced an "unprecedented contract."
The next day, El Universal requested information from the IMSS about the new agreement supporting the statements made in AMLO's morning press conferences. The Transparency Unit responded that it had no relevant information at that time.
IMSS-Bienestar acknowledges that the request for Cuban health professionals' services does not fall under its management. It insists there is no employment relationship with these doctors and no information on their specific salaries, which is handled by Comercializadora de Servicios Cubanos, S.A.
Chronic Healthcare Crisis in Cuba
The hiring of these doctors occurs amid a severe crisis in Cuba's healthcare system, characterized by chronic shortages of medicines, supplies, and personnel in hospitals. Cuba faces a significant exodus of healthcare professionals driven by salaries that, when adjusted for current inflation, amount to about $20 per month.
This exodus is exacerbated by the terms of contracts the government signs for the service of its doctors abroad, criticized as new forms of slavery, where the state retains most of the professionals' salaries and exerts pressure on them and their families. The remaining salary is deposited in Cuban bank accounts at an official exchange rate far below the informal market rate, effectively devaluing the little they receive. According to the Mexican media outlet, by December of the previous year, 48 specialists had deserted for unspecified reasons, with their whereabouts unknown to Mexican authorities.