Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praises the services of Cuban doctors, who often work in disadvantaged rural areas.
Published on 25 March 2026
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed that her country will continue to receive Cuban medical staff, as part of a long-term program to build goodwill between the island and other Latin American countries.
His comments on Wednesday come as the United States is pressuring Latin American countries to cut ties with Cuba’s medical program.
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However, Sheinbaum told reporters during a press conference that the agreement was beneficial to Mexico. Thousands of Cuban medical workers have been deployed there since 2022 to work in the largely poor, rural area.
“We have a very good agreement that has helped us a lot. It’s a bilateral agreement that has been very beneficial to Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
“It’s hard to get Mexican doctors and specialists to many rural areas where we need medical specialists, and Cubans are willing to work there.”
In February, the U.S. passed a law This opens the door to imposing sanctions on countries that continue to participate in the program.
It called on the US Secretary of State to issue a report within 90 days on which countries continue to pay the Cuban government for “the forced and trafficked labor of Cuban medical professionals.”
The move comes amid a broader effort to further isolate Cuba and topple the government in Havana, which has long been a target of US ire. So far, countries including the Bahamas, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica and Guyana have ended their participation in the Cuban Medical Exchange Program.
Cuba has long touted the decades-old program as a means of signaling solidarity with other countries. The island has also become an important source of foreign revenue for the nation, which has been under a restrictive US economic embargo since the 1960s.
However, the administration of US President Donald Trump has characterized the program as tantamount to forced labour.
“Basically, this is human trafficking,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in February.
“I mean, they’re barely even being paid. Their freedom of movement is severely restricted. And we want these countries to understand that that’s what they’re participating in.”
UN experts have raised similar concerns, including the confiscation of passports, which the Cuban government justifies as a means of preventing trained doctors from fleeing the country after their state-sponsored studies.
The pressure on Cuban medical missions is part of a broader push under Trump’s second term to demand regime change on the island.
By threatening tariffs on Cuba’s trading partners, Trump has largely blocked the island from accessing the foreign oil needed to power its electrical grid.
Trump has also said that he hopes to “occupy” Cuba and install a new government that will be more flexible towards American demands.
The Mexican government has tried to balance its friendly relations with Cuba with US demands.
In the absence of energy shipments, Sheinbaum’s government has sent humanitarian aid ships to the island.
