Today, the Congressman María Elvira Salazar ( FL-27 ), the Senator Marco Rubio ( FL ), the Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart ( FL-25 ) and the Congressman Carlos Giménez ( FL-26 ) sent a letter to the Department of Labor's Office of Commerce and Labor Affairs, requesting an investigation into Mexico's violations of the United States-Mexico-Canada Treaty ( T-MEC, for its Spanish acronym ), due to its use of Cuban medical personnel.
“ We know the horrors that the Cuban regime commits and its so-called ‘ medical professionals exchange missions ’ are no exception", representative Maria Elvira Salazar declared. Slavery still exists and is happening across our borders with the approval of the Mexican government. Mexico's acceptance of exploited labor and human trafficking is reprehensible and undermines the integrity of the T-MEC. I request a formal investigation to determine if this violates the Human Rights provisions of this historic trade agreement ”.
Mexico is involved in international human trafficking by using Cuban doctors who are forced to carry out medical missions. The regime steals wages from Cuban doctors, who are forced to sign contracts against their will, and their families are in danger if they do not. The proceeds from these medical missions return to the Cuban regime and are used to further oppress the people.
The historic trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada ( T-MEC, for its acronym in Spanish ) stands out among trade agreements and has solid provisions to defend labor standards and Human Rights. The Government of the United States has officially recognized Cuba's international medical missions as serious human rights abuses and a modern form of slavery. The US Department of State. USA included the regime in its recent “ 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report ”. In addition, Chapter 23 of the T-MEC calls on signatories to hold each other accountable for meeting high labor standards and to work to combat “ forced labor and human trafficking ”.
To get a full copy of the letter, click here.
Original source can be found here.
