The right wing is once again making clear its carefully crafted plan to try and discredit the Workers' Party governments. Not satisfied with the failure of the campaign against the Mais Médicos program, carried out last year with the support of the Federal Council of Medicine, it is now turning its spotlight on the case of the Cuban doctor, Ramona Matos Rodriguez, who "sought" the leadership of the Democrats in the Chamber of Deputies and is currently taking refuge there.
With the help of the press, the former leader of the UDR, known in Brazil for his historical actions against agrarian reform and against the bill being debated in Congress to end slave labor in rural areas, now wants to appear as the great defender of Cuban doctors, who, according to him, are exploited by the Cuban government with the help of Brazil.
Cuban doctors are currently working on several continents around the world, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and in countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Haiti, in a true demonstration of human solidarity.
It is a true insult to the intelligence of the citizen to try to use an isolated case of a Cuban citizen - who already intended to leave the country to live in the USA and came to Brazil as part of this strategy - to make a fuss against the Mais Médicos program as a whole.
In seven months, within a universe of more than 6.600 participants throughout Brazil, there were 102 cases of doctors dropping out, including both Brazilians and foreigners, and so far, all foreign doctors who left the Mais Médicos program have returned to their countries.
Of the Cuban doctors, who today number 5.378 professionals, 22 have left. Most of them (17) cited health or personal problems. Those who left represent 0,1% of the total number of Cuban doctors who came to the country. The other 99,9% continue to work, serving the Brazilian population.
The farce orchestrated by the Democrats regarding the "discovery" of previously unknown contractual details concerning the doctor's hiring doesn't hold water. In reality, the contract for Cuban doctors to work in the Mais Médicos program is between the Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Latin American arm of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an institution with over 110 years of existence and worldwide recognition. The cooperation model established through PAHO is similar to the model applied in more than 60 countries that have agreements with Cuba. Among them are countries such as Portugal, Italy, and France. Under the cooperation agreement, PAHO is responsible for liaising with the Cuban government, and the Cuban government is responsible for transferring the funds to the professionals.
The bottom line, and no one can deny it, is this: the work of these doctors, concentrated in the North and Northeast and in the poorest and most vulnerable regions of the country, impacts the healthcare of 23 million Brazilians. It is the largest medical provision program ever carried out in Brazil. And certainly, the population of the assisted municipalities admires and appreciates their presence.
With each passing day, the right wing and defenders of the Brazilian bourgeoisie are becoming increasingly desperate because none of their bleak predictions for the country have come true, and from there they foresee a terrible difficulty in winning the next elections.
To cite just a few examples, savings accounts hit a record high (R$ 71 billion); the automotive industry grew by 9,9%; the unemployment rate is the lowest in history, at 4,6%; inflation is within targets; and Dilma leads in the polls.
When I was president of CUT DF in 1984, I had the fortunate opportunity to visit Cuba. I felt unwell and was promptly attended to by a doctor at the hotel's health post. I had an excellent consultation, which cost me nothing despite being a foreigner, and I left his office with the medication in hand.
At the time, what impressed me most was what the Cuban doctor told me in our conversation. Here we have the same medical equipment that exists in Brazil, with only one difference: there, only the rich are treated with state-of-the-art equipment, here we treat everyone without exception.
Brazil today is a different place, and the Brazilian people know the reality. How many Brazilians died trying to enter the US via Mexico, using coyotes, when they saw no hope for the future here and unemployment was a part of their lives?
The personal decision of a Cuban woman, whether a doctor or not, to try to leave her country is not our problem. She has the right to try, but not through stratagems involving the Brazilian government. The Democrats should be ashamed of participating in this game, and instead try to show the country what their concrete proposals are for Brazil's development.
