Published Tuesday, July 18, 2000, in the Miami Herald .
Asylum appeal official
By Sandra Marquez Garcia. smarquez@herald.com
The two Cuban medical workers who were abducted and jailed after trying to defect in Zimbabwe went to the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday and formally requested what they had risked their lives for: to be admitted to the United States.
During a one-hour meeting with embassy officials, Noris Peña Martínez, 25, and Leonel Córdova Rodríguez, 31, handed over a written offer for provisional refugee status that was given to them by a U.S. immigration official in Zimbabwe.
And they discussed their true reason for seeking asylum in this country: to continue the political activism they began when they first denounced the communist system of their homeland in an interview with a Zimbabwean newspaper in May.
``Always, our principal goal has been to oppose the government of Fidel Castro,'' Córdova said by telephone Monday. ``We didn't do it in Cuba, but we did it in an environment that was nearly as adverse.''
Peña, a dentist, and Córdova, a physician, were abducted by gun-toting Zimbabwean soldiers June 2 after requesting political asylum to Canada and the United States. They were flown to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they were nearly deported to Cuba, before being returned to
Zimbabwe and jailed for weeks. On July 8, they were admitted to Sweden on two-month humanitarian visas.
Although not politically active in Cuba, Córdova said he and Peña sympathize with dissidents on the island and decided to act on their activist impulses once in Zimbabwe. A week ago, they took that message to Miami's Cuban exile community as the featured guests on Ninoska Pérez
Castellón's afternoon radio program on WQBA radio.
``From the beginning, I never belonged to an anti-Castro group, but I always suffered the oppression of Fidel Castro,'' Córdova said after the interview. ``Once in Miami, I will try to make contact with opposition groups and I will try to do whatever I can for them.''
U.S. officials, citing confidentiality regulations, would not confirm meeting with the two Cubans.
Migrant MDs of two countries fail specially created state exam
By Lesley Clark. lclark@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- For the third time, nearly everyone taking a stab at a controversial physician's licensing exam especially set up for Cuba- and Nicaragua-trained doctors has flunked the test.
The poor results are certain to add fuel to a fire raging over the Florida Medical Licensing Exam -- the only one of its kind in the United States. The test is available only to a special group of doctors trained in Cuba or Nicaragua. Every other physician in Florida takes a national licensing
exam.
The Florida Medical Association (FMA), with the help of the powerful American Medical Association, is vowing to push legislation next spring to abolish the test. And the beneficiaries of the exam -- a group of nearly 400 Cuban and Nicaraguan doctors -- are considering suing the state because
they say the test is nearly impossible to pass.
``All they're looking for is a fair examination that truly does test their ability to practice medicine,'' said Frank Cuneo, a Coral Gables attorney who represents the Florida International Medical Association. ``No one is seeking to obtain a free license here.''
According to the state Department of Health, of the 153 people who took both sections of the two-part test, administered in May at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, only three passed. Of the 174 people taking just the first part, which tests knowledge of science and diseases, 16 passed. Four
of the 162 people who took just the second part, which measures clinical skills, passed.
Candidates must pass both exams to be eligible for a conditional medical license, allowing them to practice in Florida -- the first two years under the supervision of another licensed physician.
At the behest of Miami-Dade County's Cuban-American lawmakers, the state four years ago created the special licensing category to help nearly 400 foreign-trained doctors who lawmakers said fled communist countries and do not have the paperwork they need to sit for the national exam. Unlike any
other state, Florida allows members of the group to become licensed, without completing an internship or hospital residency, by taking the test, developed by the University of South Florida at the request of the state Legislature. Other doctors must pass a three-part, English-only licensing exam,
the United States Medical Licensing Examination, and complete a training program.
PREVIOUS FAILURES
The first test was given in May 1999. Of the 286 people who took both tests, nine passed. In November 1999, 69 people took both parts of the test, and three passed. Those who pass one part but fail the other can take just the part they failed at a future date.
Although the test has been twice revised and translated into Spanish for those who choose to take it in their native language, the failure rate is still 95 percent. Cuneo said that's because the state insists on setting the minimum passing score at 70 percent.
He said the national exam passing score has fluctuated between 55 and 65 percent.
``It's one of the issues that needs to be addressed,'' Cuneo said.
Another group will take the test in September. The Legislature earmarked $90,000 to pay several licensed doctors to sit for the test to compare their scores with those of the immigrant physicians. The department is recruiting up to 100 doctors and medical school residents who will be paid $600
to take both tests, said David Paulson, manager of the department's testing services.
EFFECT ON PASSAGE
If the doctors perform as badly as the foreign-trained doctors, the result could be that the passing score is lowered, Paulson said.
But Cuneo said the department should compare the scores of the foreign-trained physicians with doctors who have been out of medical school for several years, not with residents.
``On average, this group has been out of school for 10 to 15 years, practicing in different countries, and they agreed to test the exam against a group similar to that,'' Cuneo said. ``Now it appears they're looking at people straight out of medical school.''
The FMA has voted to pursue legislation to end the special exam, but it will end anyhow, Paulson said. Under state law, he said, candidates have two more chances. The exam is to be administered just twice more -- in September and again in May 2001.
``Giving it two more times is contrary to the representation made to us,'' said Cuneo, who said the department told him it would give the test five more times beyond May 2001.
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