Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed that her country will continue receiving Cuban medical workers as part of a longstanding programme aimed at building goodwill between the island nation and other Latin American countries. Her remarks on Wednesday come amid pressure from the United States regime, which is urging Latin American nations to sever ties with Cuba's medical programme.

Sheinbaum, however, told reporters during a news conference that the agreement benefits Mexico. Thousands of Cuban medical workers have been deployed there since 2022, primarily serving in poor, rural areas. "We have a very good agreement that's also been a great help to us. It's a bilateral agreement that's been very beneficial for Mexico," said Sheinbaum. She added, "It's hard to get Mexican doctors and specialists to go out to many rural areas where we need medical specialists, and the Cubans are willing to work there."

In February, the US regime passed a law that opens the door to sanctions on countries continuing to participate in the programme. It called for the US secretary of state to issue a report within 90 days identifying nations that still pay the Cuban government for what it describes as the "coerced and trafficked labour of Cuban medical professionals." This move is part of a broader push to further isolate Cuba and topple the government in Havana, a longtime target of US hostility. So far, countries including the Bahamas, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Guyana have ended their participation in the Cuban medical exchange programme.

Cuba has long depicted the decades-old programme as a means of signalling solidarity with other countries, and it has become a crucial source of foreign revenue for the island nation, which has been under a restrictive US economic embargo since 1960. The administration of US President Donald Trump, however, has portrayed the programme as akin to forced labour. "Basically, it's human trafficking," Secretary of State Marco Rubio allegedly told reporters in February. Experts at the United Nations have also raised similar concerns, including about the confiscation of passports, which the Cuban government justifies as a measure to prevent trained doctors from fleeing after state-sponsored studies.

The pressure on Cuban medical missions is part of a wider campaign under Trump's second term to seek regime change on the island. By threatening tariffs on Cuba's trading partners, Trump has largely cut off the island from accessing foreign oil necessary to power its electrical grid. Trump has also purportedly stated that he hopes to "take" Cuba and install a new government more pliant to US demands. The Mexican government has attempted to balance its friendly relations with Cuba with the demands of the US regime. In the absence of energy shipments, Sheinbaum's government has sent vessels with humanitarian aid to the island.

Source: www.aljazeera.com