“Mais Médicos”: Discourses, Bodies, and the Biopolitics of Medical Internationalism

Abstract

Abstract Starting in 2013, the Mais Médicos program brought over 11,400 Cuban doctors to work in Brazil. The program aimed to reduce inequality in access to medical care; but it was met with heavy resistance from Brazilian medical professionals. This article employs Foucault, Butler, and other post-modern thinkers to analyze Mais Médicos. Specifically, we argue that Mais Médicos did not lead to a politicization of Brazilian health care, but rather that pre-existing discourses were called upon to support or counter the arrival of Cuban doc-tors. This discursive struggle resulted in a dispute over biopower within Brazilian society. We base our claims on fieldwork and interviews conducted with Cuban doctors, Brazilian doc-tors, and Brazilian politicians.