Cuban doctor wants to quit work program but stay in Brazil
Cuban doctor Ramona Matos Rodríguez wants to quit the More Doctors Program, where she is allocated to work in the municipality of Pacajá, Pará, and obtain political asylum in Brazil. She has taken refuge in the office of the leader of an opposition party, DEM, in the Chamber of Deputies, and is waiting to hear from the Brazilian government.
Rodríguez says she felt cheated by the Cuban government. “They had me sign a contract to work for a certain pay amount, and as I came here and talked to other Colombian and Venezuelan doctors, I learned that they were being paid US$4,100,” she told reporters, contrasting with contractual provisions that she would receive US$400 (just over R$ 900), plus another US$600 deposited to an account in Cuba. “I realized how unfair this was. Internet here [in Brazil] is so easily available, people can find out a lot of information.”
The doctor claimed to have been guarded by her Cuban colleagues ever since she came to Brazil in the end of 2013: "It was clear to me [that I was being watched]. I had to tell them everything like where I was going, and I wasn't allowed to go wherever I wanted.” She went on, “People here can think what they will, but they can't say it. Anyone who dare speak out what I'm telling you now would face deportation and jail.”
She arrived in Brasília by car on Saturday (Feb. 1), helped by Brazilian, Cuban, and other friends. In order to avoid suspicion, the doctor told her roommates that she was going to the countryside.
Like other workers sent to Brazil, Rodríguez had her passport, so she had no difficulties boarding her flight from Marabá to Brasília, where she spent two days staying at a friend's before going to spend Tuesday night (Feb. 4-5) in the Chamber of Deputies. She reported that the Federal Police (PF) searched the program accommodations after her and tapped her phone calls.
But Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo denied that the Cuban doctor has been monitored. He said that she is still enrolled in the program and “is not being searched, nor investigated by the Federal Police. No actions are going on in connection with her. The Federal Police has not monitored her calls. And in case any police officer has done so, they acted illegally.”
After meeting DEM members to discuss Rodríguez's standing, Cardozo said: “"There is no objective reason why she should seek refuge anywhere. She is free to come and go, since she is a legal foreigner in Brazil.” However, he warned, if she abandons the program, “her permanent visa will be revoked,” in which case she would be allowed to apply for asylum and wait for the result in Brazil.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Cuban doctor wants to quit work program but stay in Brazil
