Mexico did not act fairly. It was already in violation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement by allowing China to use it as a backdoor for exports. Mexico's new government is also weakening the country's legal framework and weakening its own institutions.
And now Mexico has violated the agreement again in the field of labor, 199 Cuban doctors This month on modern slavery.
The USMCA makes clear its commitment to protecting worker rights. the preamble It establishes a decision to “promote the protection and enforcement of workers' rights, the improvement of working conditions, cooperation on labor issues and the strengthening of States parties' capacities.”
Cuba's medical dispatch is in direct violation of the provisions. 23 of USMCA It calls for the “elimination of all forms of forced labor.”
Early this year, bipartisan resolution expressed deep concern in Congress about the human rights violations committed by the Cuban International Brigades. Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairs Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Mark Green (R-TN), and Carlos Jimenez (R-TN); The state of Florida denounced these missions as a new form of modern slavery. .
2023, Sen. Bob Menendez (DN.J.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter He warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “engaging in these missions is a clear violation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement” and “inconsistent with our nation's commitments to fundamental freedoms and universal human rights.” .
The letter sent by Rubio and Menendez also states that “the Mexican Constitution clearly prohibits the exploitation of people through 'slavery,' 'labor exploitation,' and 'forced labor or forced service.'” There is.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has registered charges against 64-hour work weeks, sexual harassment of female doctors, and prison sentences of three to eight years for deserters from the “Cuban International Mission.”
The Committee and its Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights have also expressed concern about the working conditions to which health workers are exposed on these international assignments. According to some complaints, Cuba retains up to 90% of the money paid by other governments for these medical cooperation, leaving doctors with only $1.
For the past two years, the Mexican government has $24 million Medical unit of the Cuban dictatorship. Nearly 200 “volunteer” doctors arrived in Mexico this week. The island tyrants will be paid about $5,000 per person, and the workers will receive crumbs.
Also, as widely reported and documented by human rights organizations such as: prisoner advocateSome Cuban doctors are military personnel in disguise.
Since 1963, when Cuba was already exporting ideologues, military trainers, and intelligence agents, medical brigades disguised all kinds of military operations in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
united nations She spoke out against forced labor and human rights violations by the Cuban International Brigades. universal declaration of human rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Abolition of forced labor conventions Broadly work against slavery, human trafficking, and forced labor.
Although the medical brigades harmed Cubans and Mexicans in many ways, they benefited the Cuban regime. While international missions provide economic oxygen to the dictatorship in Havana, they are crushing the hopes and dreams of Mexican doctors seeking jobs, decent pay, and better opportunities.
world magnitsky method This exploitation of Cuban doctors should be punished. This law gives the U.S. president the power to impose sanctions on international actors involved in corrupt practices or human rights abuses. Punish violators, ban them from entering the United States, and freeze their assets.
The new Trump administration, particularly the State Department, likely headed by Rubio, could impose sanctions on Mexico. All those who participated in and profited from human rights violations against Cuban doctors should be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.
The Cuban Brigades have been subjected to six decades of impunity, labor exploitation, and human rights violations. Concealment of military operations in some cases. The aid Mexico provides to Cuba violates the USMCA, promotes illicit enrichment, and strengthens 65 years of dictatorship. The Trump administration could act to change this and create an outstanding legacy for democracy in the Americas and beyond.
Arturo McFields is an exiled journalist, former OAS Ambassador to Nicaragua, and former member of the Norwegian Peace Corps.
