Against a backdrop of mounting U.S. pressure on Latin American nations to cut off medical collaboration with Cuba, Mexico’s executive leader has reaffirmed that the bilateral agreement between Mexico and Cuba delivers substantial mutual benefits, calling the arrangement particularly valuable for Mexico.
Recounting Cuba’s critical support during one of Mexico’s darkest public health crises, the head of government emphasized that Cuban medical personnel stepped up to assist Mexico at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, working under extraordinarily challenging conditions. Today, these medical professionals remain deployed across multiple regions of Mexico, and the leader confirmed that all contractual payments owed to them are honored in full.
Beyond emergency pandemic support, the executive highlighted the longstanding and cutting-edge medical advancements Cuba has developed, noting that Mexico has already procured the Cuban-developed Abdala COVID-19 vaccine. The countries have also partnered on a specialized treatment program for diabetic foot ulcers, centered on the Cuban biologic medication Heberprot-P.
According to the leader, Mexico plans to expand the network of specialized diabetic foot clinics offering this treatment, which provides a life-changing alternative to amputation for patients with advanced diabetes who have reached the stage of severe tissue damage that would typically require surgical removal of a limb.
As the United States has intensified its decades-long economic blockade against Cuba, Mexico has continued to send material aid to the island nation, a policy the Mexican leader defended as an expression of the country’s long-held commitment to Mexican Humanism. “We lend a hand to those who suffer,” the leader said, framing the aid as a moral obligation rather than a political gesture.
The executive also issued a firm rebuke of Washington’s blockade, particularly the widely criticized oil embargo that the U.S. frames as a measured policy. Mexico will always stand firm in defending two core principles, the leader emphasized: the right of the Cuban people to independently choose their own leaders, determine their system of governance and economic structure, and exercise full sovereignty over their national affairs, as well as Cuba’s inherent right to engage in international trade with all nations.