The “Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program” allows Cuban Doctors to easily defect to U.S. (Photo by Sophia Paris/MINUSTAH via Getty Images)

The New York Times posted an editorial Monday about how hundreds of Cuban doctors could defect to the U.S. while they treat Ebola patients in West Africa.
Cuban doctors serving in West Africa could easily apply to the “Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program.”

The program allows doctors and other Cuban health professionals working in a third country at the behest of the Cuban government to defect to the United States. Those who are accepted can be on American soil within weeks, on track to becoming U.S. citizens

The NY Times also reported that the “Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program,” enabled 1,278 Cubans to defect while on overseas assignments, a record number.

“American immigration policy should give priority to the world’s neediest refugees and persecuted people. It should not be used to exacerbate the brain drain of an adversarial nation at a time when improved relations between the two countries are a worthwhile, realistic goal,” the NY times said. “It’s incongruous for the United States to value the contributions of Cuban doctors who are sent by their government to assist in international crises like the 2010 Haiti earthquake while working to subvert that government by making defection so easy.”

Cuba’s health care system was degraded by the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early ’90s, and in recent years, the government has sent health workers to Venezuela and Brazil, in exchange for badly needed hard currency and oil. Those programs make up one of the largest sources of income for the island.

According to Cuban government figures, more than 440,000 of the island’s 11 million citizens are employed in the health sector.

Latin America is losing its Catholic identity. (Juliana Barrera/Voxxi)

A new survey by the Pew Research Center, “Religion in Latin America,” reveals that Latin Americans born into Roman Catholic families have increasingly left the faith for Protestant churches.

Latin America remains home to an estimated 40 percent of the planet’s Catholic population. But the survey finds that 19 percent of Latin Americans now describe themselves as Protestant.

Why are Latin Americans leaving the Catholic Church for Protestantism?

The survey asked respondents to rate eight possible explanations. Protestants who converted from Catholicism most frequently say they “wanted a more personal experience with God.” Other commonly cited reasons include the style of worship at their new church and a desire for greater emphasis on morality.

What about the “Francis effect?”

The research also showed that Pope Francis is highly popular and influential in Latin America, with two-thirds or more of the population expressing a positive opinion.

“The Catholic Church’s status in Latin America has drawn more attention since Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope in March 2013, taking the name Francis.” The Pew reported, “while it is too soon to know whether Francis can stop or reverse the church’s losses in the region, the new survey finds that people who are currently Catholic overwhelmingly view Francis favorably and consider his papacy a major change for the church.” 

<img class=”alignright size-medium wp-image-326883″ src=”https://ionevoxxi.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/catholic-church.jpg?w=300&h=210″ alt=”Catholicism in Latin America.” width=”300″ height=”210″ />

Why is Latin America cooling on Catholicism? (Juliana Barrera/Voxxi)

However, the authors of the Pew report said former Catholics are more pessimistic of the pope than those still in the Church, he is highly regarded by a majority of ex-Catholics only in Argentina and Uruguay. Significant percentages of former Catholics also say it’s too soon to tell whether Francis represents real change, or to identify a tangible “Francis effect.”

What about Hispanics Catholics in the U.S.?

The ratio of decline in Latin American Catholics is similar to those who live in the U.S., the “New York Times” noted, where large numbers of those raised Catholic, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, have abandoned the church.

 According to PEW research, “Nearly a quarter of Hispanic adults in the United States were raised Catholic but have since left the faith, while just 2 percent of U.S. Hispanics have converted to Catholicism after being raised in another religious tradition or with no affiliation.”

The survey was conducted from October 2013 to February 2014 in every Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking country in Latin America, except for Cuba.