The official version: solidarity, non-interference
Claudia Sheinbaum came out today to defend tooth and nail the bilateral agreement with Cuba. His message was clear: Cuban doctors stay and humanitarian aid continues on its way. He said it in the morning, with that tone of someone reciting an unquestionable principle.
“There are those who say, these right-wing commentators, that: ‘well, but the Cuban people live in a dictatorship.’
There you have it. For the president, the discussion about the political regime in Havana is a separate issue. What cannot be allowed, he insists, is economic isolation.Doctors: the jewel in the crown of the agreement
The star argument is the presence of Cuban specialists. Sheinbaum paints them as heroes of the pandemic and now as saviors of rural Mexican areas that no one else wants to serve.
“Yesterday I commented in the north of Baja California Sur, it is difficult for Mexican medical specialists to leave and Cubans are willing to work there,” he explained.
They ensure that they are paid a fair salary right here, under the umbrella of the agreement between governments. Nothing about Cuba taking the biggest cut, according to his story.
But one can’t help but wonder: how much of that salary actually ends up in the hands of doctors? The program’s precedents in other countries paint a… complex picture.
The constitutional charter and self-determination
Then came the legal recourse. Sheinbaum hid his legal training to bring out the self-determination of the peoples enshrined in our Constitution.
“That’s what the United Nations is for (…), but it is not another country that solves the problem for another,” he said, referring to the US blockade.
Curious how some principles are invoked selectively. Non-interference seems to apply only towards certain countries and in certain directions.
The finishing touch: business and own decisions
To close with a flourish, the president highlighted that Cuba now allows its compatriots to invest on the island.
“Today you can do business in Cuba. Because of a decision made by the Cuban government,” he concluded.
As if this minimal economic opening erased decades of iron state control. The message is served: Mexico will maintain its line, regardless of who it is. Government solidarity, at least with some regimes, is not in question.
