by the Cuban Foreign Ministry
Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi
The Foreign Ministry of Cuba has withdrawn its diplomatic staff from Libya, where foreign intervention and NATO military aggression has exacerbated the conflict and prevented the Libyan people from advancing toward a peaceful negotiated solution, in full exercise of their self-determination.
The Republic of Cuba does not recognize the Transitional National Council, nor any provisional authority, and will only recognize a government established in Libya in a legitimate manner, without foreign intervention, through the free, sovereign, and common will of the brother people of Libya.
Ambassador Víctor Ramírez Peña and First Secretary Armando Pérez Suárez, accredited in Tripoli, have maintained impeccable conduct, strictly observing their diplomatic status, have endured risks, and have stood by the Libyan people in this tragic situation. They have directly witnessed the NATO bombings of civilian targets and deaths of innocent people.
Under the grotesque pretense of protecting civilians, the NATO has murdered thousands of them, disregarded the constructive initiatives of the African Union and other countries, and even violated the questionable resolutions imposed at the Security Council, in particular by its attacks on civilian targets, by its financing and arming of one side, and by its deployment of diplomatic and operational personnel on the ground.
The United Nations has ignored the clamor of international public opinion in defense of peace and ended up becoming complicit in a war of conquest. The facts confirm the early warnings of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and the timely condemnations issued by Cuba at the UN. Now the world can see better what purpose the so-called "Responsibility to Protect" serves in the hands of the powerful.
Cuba declares that nothing can justify the murder of innocent people.
The Foreign Ministry demands the immediate end to NATO bombings, which continue to claim lives, and reiterates the urgent need to permit the Libyan people to find a peaceful negotiated solution, without foreign intervention, in exercise of their inalienable right to independence and self-determination, to sovereignty over their national resources, and to the territorial integrity of that brother nation.
Cuba condemns the conduct of the NATO, which is aimed at creating similar conditions for intervention in Syria, and demands the end to foreign intervention in that Arab country. Cuba calls upon the international community to prevent a new war, urges the United Nations to abide by its duty to safeguard peace, and supports the right of the Syrian people to full sovereignty and self-determination.
Havana, 3 September 2011
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The original statement "Declaración del MINREX: Cuba no reconoce al Consejo Nacional de Transición" may be read at CubaDebate.cu
See also: Nicaragua refuses to recognise NTC, calls NATO drunken warmonger, 05 September 2011.
Showing posts with label internationalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internationalism. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Venezuela’s Chávez condemns NATO “massacre” in Tripoli, warns of opposition destabilisation plans
Source: Venezuelanalysis.com
by Rachael Boothroyd, 22 August 2011.
This Sunday, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez reiterated his condemnation of NATO’s bombing of Libya, amidst international media reports that the Libyan rebels were advancing on the city of Tripoli.
During a press conference, Chávez, who had recently returned from chemotherapy treatment in Cuba, described the actions of the U.S. and certain European governments as a “massacre” and repeated his call for peace for the people of the world.
“The democratic European governments, not all of them, but we know which ones, are practically demolishing Tripoli with their bombs; the supposedly Democrat and democratic U.S. government as well, because they feel like it, simply because they feel like it,” said the Venezuelan president.
Chávez has continuously denounced the NATO-backed intervention in Libya since it began in March, and maintains that the U.S., France, and Great Britain are involved for cynical and strategic reasons, as well as to take advantage of Libya’s oil and extensive gold reserves.
“Today they dropped I don’t know how many bombs, and they are falling in a totally shameless and open way, they no longer even bother to explain anything, falling on schools, hospitals, homes, places of work, factories, agricultural farms, right now at this very moment” continued the president.
For his part, PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) representative Rodrigo Cabezas, denounced the use of ‘criminal force’ by NATO in what he described as a an act of “territorial aggression”. The PSUV legislator also claimed that 5,000 civilians had been killed since the beginning of the conflict and that a similar number had been seriously injured.
Venezuelan Opposition Seeks to “Unleash Violence”
In further statements, Chávez urged the Venezuelan people to ‘neutralise’ the Venezuelan opposition’s plans to destabilise the country, and stated that members of the opposition political forces were trying to unleash violence in Venezuela.
Members of the National Assembly convened a special meeting this Monday to discuss concerns of an opposition attack on the Venezuelan state. PSUV representatives claim that the opposition is trying to “create panic and promote an international intervention” within the South American nation.
Santos Amaral, PSUV representative, remarked that the opposition and their media were currently creating a political climate in Venezuela similar to that of the days preceding the April 2002 coup, during which democratically elected Chávez was temporarily ousted and more than 50 Venezuelans died at the hands of the interim government.
“We (the PSUV) hope that nobody is wishing for, is asking for a Libyan solution to life in Venezuela, one that entails a military attack, that entails death” said PSUV representative Rodrigo Cabezas.
by Rachael Boothroyd, 22 August 2011.
This Sunday, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez reiterated his condemnation of NATO’s bombing of Libya, amidst international media reports that the Libyan rebels were advancing on the city of Tripoli.
During a press conference, Chávez, who had recently returned from chemotherapy treatment in Cuba, described the actions of the U.S. and certain European governments as a “massacre” and repeated his call for peace for the people of the world.
“The democratic European governments, not all of them, but we know which ones, are practically demolishing Tripoli with their bombs; the supposedly Democrat and democratic U.S. government as well, because they feel like it, simply because they feel like it,” said the Venezuelan president.
Chávez has continuously denounced the NATO-backed intervention in Libya since it began in March, and maintains that the U.S., France, and Great Britain are involved for cynical and strategic reasons, as well as to take advantage of Libya’s oil and extensive gold reserves.
“Today they dropped I don’t know how many bombs, and they are falling in a totally shameless and open way, they no longer even bother to explain anything, falling on schools, hospitals, homes, places of work, factories, agricultural farms, right now at this very moment” continued the president.
For his part, PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) representative Rodrigo Cabezas, denounced the use of ‘criminal force’ by NATO in what he described as a an act of “territorial aggression”. The PSUV legislator also claimed that 5,000 civilians had been killed since the beginning of the conflict and that a similar number had been seriously injured.
Venezuelan Opposition Seeks to “Unleash Violence”
In further statements, Chávez urged the Venezuelan people to ‘neutralise’ the Venezuelan opposition’s plans to destabilise the country, and stated that members of the opposition political forces were trying to unleash violence in Venezuela.
Members of the National Assembly convened a special meeting this Monday to discuss concerns of an opposition attack on the Venezuelan state. PSUV representatives claim that the opposition is trying to “create panic and promote an international intervention” within the South American nation.
Santos Amaral, PSUV representative, remarked that the opposition and their media were currently creating a political climate in Venezuela similar to that of the days preceding the April 2002 coup, during which democratically elected Chávez was temporarily ousted and more than 50 Venezuelans died at the hands of the interim government.
“We (the PSUV) hope that nobody is wishing for, is asking for a Libyan solution to life in Venezuela, one that entails a military attack, that entails death” said PSUV representative Rodrigo Cabezas.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Cuba calls for respect for Syrian sovereignty
Translated by Granma International, 23 August 2011.
Rodolfo Reyes, Cuba’s representative to the UN Human Rights Council, stated today that the island rejects "any attempt to ignore Syria’s sovereignty."
Reyes added, "It is in the hands of the Syrian people and their authorities to determine their will and future."
The international community "should be providing assistance to guarantee peace, not taking actions to increase the death of citizens," the Cuban representative emphasized.
Cuba trusts in the skill of the Syrian people and authorities to resolve their problems, without intervention from the international community, he continued.
The convening of this session is based on the evident interest of a group of powers headed by Washington, who are even manipulating human beings’ right to life to justify their interventionist objectives, Reyes commented, according to PL.
He lamented the fact that certain political and press media are clearly inciting violence, military aggression and foreign intervention. The diplomat asked those attending the meeting to consider the barbaric NATO and U.S. actions in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, and those of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories if they are so concerned about human life.
see: UN condemnation of Syrian attrocities. click here to see the Voting Chart.
Rodolfo Reyes, Cuba’s representative to the UN Human Rights Council, stated today that the island rejects "any attempt to ignore Syria’s sovereignty."
Reyes added, "It is in the hands of the Syrian people and their authorities to determine their will and future."
The international community "should be providing assistance to guarantee peace, not taking actions to increase the death of citizens," the Cuban representative emphasized.
Cuba trusts in the skill of the Syrian people and authorities to resolve their problems, without intervention from the international community, he continued.
The convening of this session is based on the evident interest of a group of powers headed by Washington, who are even manipulating human beings’ right to life to justify their interventionist objectives, Reyes commented, according to PL.
He lamented the fact that certain political and press media are clearly inciting violence, military aggression and foreign intervention. The diplomat asked those attending the meeting to consider the barbaric NATO and U.S. actions in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, and those of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories if they are so concerned about human life.
see: UN condemnation of Syrian attrocities. click here to see the Voting Chart.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Cuban statement on Syria
Statement by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Marcos Rodríguez Costa
WE express our profound concern over the treatment of the internal situation in Syria within the UN Security Council, on the basis of the heavy pressure being exercised by the Western powers on this body to adopt decisions against the legitimate government of that country.
Taking into account the experiences and precedents already created by recent cases, which demonstrate manipulation of the UN Charter and the double standards which characterize the conduct of the Security Council, we express our condemnation of any attempt to undermine the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of that nation.
Cuba reiterates its confidence in the capacity of the Syrian government and people to solve their internal problems without any foreign interference and demands full respect for this Arab country’s free self-determination and sovereignty.
Havana, August 4, 2011
WE express our profound concern over the treatment of the internal situation in Syria within the UN Security Council, on the basis of the heavy pressure being exercised by the Western powers on this body to adopt decisions against the legitimate government of that country.
Taking into account the experiences and precedents already created by recent cases, which demonstrate manipulation of the UN Charter and the double standards which characterize the conduct of the Security Council, we express our condemnation of any attempt to undermine the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of that nation.
Cuba reiterates its confidence in the capacity of the Syrian government and people to solve their internal problems without any foreign interference and demands full respect for this Arab country’s free self-determination and sovereignty.
Havana, August 4, 2011
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
ELAM continues challenge
ELAM in Cuba: The Challenge of Training Physicians
Source: Prensa Latina, 03 August 2011.
By Roberto Hernandez
The Latin American Medical School (ELAM) in Cuba continues the challenge of training physicians from many countries including the United States, with the ability to offer their services anywhere in the world.
That has been the path taken by the almost 10,000 graduates of the School, located on the western outskirts of Havana, including the 153 US citizens who have received their degrees there so far, mostly members of ethnic minorities and the poor.
All we ask of the young (17 to 25 years) students is that once they have graduated they go back to their villages or poor neighborhoods and practice what they have learned, said the academic vice-rector of ELAM, Midalys Castilla.
"We need doctors in the whole world, but especially doctors like the Cubans who are willing to work anywhere," said Helen Bernstein, one of the leaders of the US-Cuba Friendship Caravan, which recently brought more than 100 tons of aid to the island
We want doctors with a focus on human beings, capable of feeling and sharing their knowledge as many times as necessary, added Bernstein, who is also the acting coordinator of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO).
She made these observations during the graduation of 40 of her country folk as doctors, speaking on behalf of the New York-based Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), that since the beginning of this century offers in the U.S.A. scholarships for training in Cuba.
Beyond political motivations, the presence of the North Americans in the Caribbean nation has yielded dividends for the young people, nourished by a vision of preventive care, which is absent from most schools in the U.S.A.
Medical students in Havana, for example, are able to attend to people in places without electricity or running water, when high technology diagnostic equipment is not available.
One might think that these talents are not useful in the U.S., but there are poor communities there that do not have a single doctor and have come to resemble parts of the Third World.
The idea gained momentum especially after the disaster caused in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people and highlighted the problems of health care in that country.
Cuba began to train US medical students after members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with then President Fidel Castro in 2000.
Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told Fidel Castro about the problems in areas of his legislative district that suffered an acute shortage of doctors.
The leader of the Revolution responded by offering scholarships to 500 US young people to attend the Latin American Medical School, founded in November 1999 to provide medical studies for youth of the region, an idea later extended to Africans and Asians.
To qualify, students would have to demonstrate ability and commitment to work in disadvantaged communities in the United States, the very country that for over 50 years has tried to defeat the Cuban revolutionary project.
Since 2001, the interfaith group IFCO, Pastors for Peace and its late leader Lucius Walker, drew up a plan to increase minority participation in medicine in order to augment the ratio of doctors to patients in disadvantaged areas.
The lack of these in the neediest communities in the U.S. is exactly what IFCO wanted to remedy, when it began recruiting for scholarships in Cuba.
Most students from that country in the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana are African Americans from New York or California; 85 percent are from minority groups and 73 percent are women.
EMERGENCE OF ELAM
Classes began in February 1999 with some 1,900 young people, many from Central America, then affected by Hurricane Mitch, which left some 19 thousand people dead or missing.
Initially all students were prepared in the facilities of ELAM, in an area of one million 200 thousand square meters.
That changed in 2005, when future graduates in their third year of study began to be placed in the 21 faculties of medical science in the country, where they share their training with Cuban colleagues.
At the present time about 10 thousand young people from 55 countries are studying medicine in Cuba. Seventy-five percent are children of workers and peasants, and 104 indigenous communities of Latin America are represented among them.
The idea that the Cuban government uses the school and its large number of graduates to make propaganda in favour of socialism is shattered by the existence of some 78,000 Cuban doctors trained to serve a population of 11.2 million.
Source: Prensa Latina, 03 August 2011.
By Roberto Hernandez
The Latin American Medical School (ELAM) in Cuba continues the challenge of training physicians from many countries including the United States, with the ability to offer their services anywhere in the world.
That has been the path taken by the almost 10,000 graduates of the School, located on the western outskirts of Havana, including the 153 US citizens who have received their degrees there so far, mostly members of ethnic minorities and the poor.
All we ask of the young (17 to 25 years) students is that once they have graduated they go back to their villages or poor neighborhoods and practice what they have learned, said the academic vice-rector of ELAM, Midalys Castilla.
"We need doctors in the whole world, but especially doctors like the Cubans who are willing to work anywhere," said Helen Bernstein, one of the leaders of the US-Cuba Friendship Caravan, which recently brought more than 100 tons of aid to the island
We want doctors with a focus on human beings, capable of feeling and sharing their knowledge as many times as necessary, added Bernstein, who is also the acting coordinator of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO).
She made these observations during the graduation of 40 of her country folk as doctors, speaking on behalf of the New York-based Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), that since the beginning of this century offers in the U.S.A. scholarships for training in Cuba.
Beyond political motivations, the presence of the North Americans in the Caribbean nation has yielded dividends for the young people, nourished by a vision of preventive care, which is absent from most schools in the U.S.A.
Medical students in Havana, for example, are able to attend to people in places without electricity or running water, when high technology diagnostic equipment is not available.
One might think that these talents are not useful in the U.S., but there are poor communities there that do not have a single doctor and have come to resemble parts of the Third World.
The idea gained momentum especially after the disaster caused in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people and highlighted the problems of health care in that country.
Cuba began to train US medical students after members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with then President Fidel Castro in 2000.
Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told Fidel Castro about the problems in areas of his legislative district that suffered an acute shortage of doctors.
The leader of the Revolution responded by offering scholarships to 500 US young people to attend the Latin American Medical School, founded in November 1999 to provide medical studies for youth of the region, an idea later extended to Africans and Asians.
To qualify, students would have to demonstrate ability and commitment to work in disadvantaged communities in the United States, the very country that for over 50 years has tried to defeat the Cuban revolutionary project.
Since 2001, the interfaith group IFCO, Pastors for Peace and its late leader Lucius Walker, drew up a plan to increase minority participation in medicine in order to augment the ratio of doctors to patients in disadvantaged areas.
The lack of these in the neediest communities in the U.S. is exactly what IFCO wanted to remedy, when it began recruiting for scholarships in Cuba.
Most students from that country in the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana are African Americans from New York or California; 85 percent are from minority groups and 73 percent are women.
EMERGENCE OF ELAM
Classes began in February 1999 with some 1,900 young people, many from Central America, then affected by Hurricane Mitch, which left some 19 thousand people dead or missing.
Initially all students were prepared in the facilities of ELAM, in an area of one million 200 thousand square meters.
That changed in 2005, when future graduates in their third year of study began to be placed in the 21 faculties of medical science in the country, where they share their training with Cuban colleagues.
At the present time about 10 thousand young people from 55 countries are studying medicine in Cuba. Seventy-five percent are children of workers and peasants, and 104 indigenous communities of Latin America are represented among them.
The idea that the Cuban government uses the school and its large number of graduates to make propaganda in favour of socialism is shattered by the existence of some 78,000 Cuban doctors trained to serve a population of 11.2 million.
Monday, 8 August 2011
How South Africa benefits from Cuba
How we benefit from Cuba
Source: Independent Online (IOL, South Africa), 15 July 2011.
- Cuba has freely educated and trained 264 South African medical doctors since 1998, with a further 400 currently still undergoing training in that country.
- Deployment of Cuban doctors to South Africa on an annual basis to assist in addressing shortages in rural areas.
Some 128 Cuban doctors currently work in South Africa - all with a good command of English as required by the Department of Health.
- Deployment of teachers and lecturers in schools and universities in South Africa.
- Deployment of Cuban health specialists, including surgeons, to state hospitals to plug the critical shortages due to the exodus of these specialists to other countries or the private sector.
- Future exchange programme on the cards to be included in the academic joint co-operation agreement currently in place.
- Expansion of training to allow South African doctors trained in Cuba to specialise in family medicine so that they can assist in preventive and primary health care.
Major differences between the two
- Medical universities offer only one curriculum while South Africa's medical school each has their own, with all having to meet requirements set out by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
- Cuban medical students are not allowed to even touch a patient until their sixth year of study, while South African students are allowed that level of interaction from their third year.
- The Cuban approach is largely based on preventive care which is medical doctor based, while the South African system is largely based on the nursing profession.
- Cuba has eliminated a number of diseases through their public health immunisation programmes, resulting in a scarcity of diseases like TB and HIV. South Africa's rates are among the highest in the world.
Source: Independent Online (IOL, South Africa), 15 July 2011.
- Cuba has freely educated and trained 264 South African medical doctors since 1998, with a further 400 currently still undergoing training in that country.
- Deployment of Cuban doctors to South Africa on an annual basis to assist in addressing shortages in rural areas.
Some 128 Cuban doctors currently work in South Africa - all with a good command of English as required by the Department of Health.
- Deployment of teachers and lecturers in schools and universities in South Africa.
- Deployment of Cuban health specialists, including surgeons, to state hospitals to plug the critical shortages due to the exodus of these specialists to other countries or the private sector.
- Future exchange programme on the cards to be included in the academic joint co-operation agreement currently in place.
- Expansion of training to allow South African doctors trained in Cuba to specialise in family medicine so that they can assist in preventive and primary health care.
Major differences between the two
- Medical universities offer only one curriculum while South Africa's medical school each has their own, with all having to meet requirements set out by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
- Cuban medical students are not allowed to even touch a patient until their sixth year of study, while South African students are allowed that level of interaction from their third year.
- The Cuban approach is largely based on preventive care which is medical doctor based, while the South African system is largely based on the nursing profession.
- Cuba has eliminated a number of diseases through their public health immunisation programmes, resulting in a scarcity of diseases like TB and HIV. South Africa's rates are among the highest in the world.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Cuba graduates more doctors for the world: Class of 2011 includes 19 US physicians
Source: Meddicc.org, 23 July 2011.
Following stirring choral offerings ranging from Ave Maria to We Are the World, 19 US medical students were among those awarded their degrees at today’s graduation of physicians, nurses and allied health professions of the Medical University of Havana’s Dr Salvador Allende Health Sciences Faculty. The new US physicians are among 1396 international medical students graduating this week throughout Cuba who were enrolled in the full-scholarship Latin American Medical School (ELAM) program. They all completed a bridging course and another two years of basic sciences study at ELAM’s main Havana campus, before fanning out to health sciences faculties across the country for their final four clinical years.
Here in Havana, Allende is one of the faculties celebrating graduations today, 22 countries represented in its Class of 2011, including Cuba and the USA. In his remarks, Allende’s Dean Dr Jorge Jimenez called them “worthy young men and women ready to do battle for health anywhere in the world.”
ELAM Rector Dr Juan Carrizo noted that, since the first ELAM students received their degrees in 2005, the program has graduated over 9900 MDs from the Americas, Africa and Asia. He praised those who made their medical studies possible, including the students themselves, their parents and professors, and former President Fidel Castro whose idea founded the ELAM program. “We owe ourselves to our vocation,” he reminded the graduates in closing, “to see people as patients, never clients, and to apply our knowledge, skills and commitment to help them.” Dr Carrizo was among various speakers who paid tribute to the late Rev. Lucius Walker, director of the Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)/Pastors for Peace, whose work was vital to the US contingent of students, calling him a “courageous man of principles.”
MEDICC International Director Gail Reed was a guest at the graduation. She explained that MEDICC provides the ELAM program with latest-edition textbooks and carries out cooperation projects with students from Haiti, Honduras and the USA. MEDICC supports US graduates’ transition into medical practice through the MD Pipeline to Community Service, which awards fellowships to defray the costs of US board exams and preparatory courses, provides students and graduates with US physician mentors, coordinates clinical opportunities for students in US public hospitals and community health centers, and conducts outreach about ELAM to US residency programs. “Our heartiest congratulations go to these wonderful young people from across the United States,” she said. “And we want to let them know how much they are needed back home, where health disparities continue to plague our communities along lines of race, gender and income.”
Following stirring choral offerings ranging from Ave Maria to We Are the World, 19 US medical students were among those awarded their degrees at today’s graduation of physicians, nurses and allied health professions of the Medical University of Havana’s Dr Salvador Allende Health Sciences Faculty. The new US physicians are among 1396 international medical students graduating this week throughout Cuba who were enrolled in the full-scholarship Latin American Medical School (ELAM) program. They all completed a bridging course and another two years of basic sciences study at ELAM’s main Havana campus, before fanning out to health sciences faculties across the country for their final four clinical years.
Here in Havana, Allende is one of the faculties celebrating graduations today, 22 countries represented in its Class of 2011, including Cuba and the USA. In his remarks, Allende’s Dean Dr Jorge Jimenez called them “worthy young men and women ready to do battle for health anywhere in the world.”
ELAM Rector Dr Juan Carrizo noted that, since the first ELAM students received their degrees in 2005, the program has graduated over 9900 MDs from the Americas, Africa and Asia. He praised those who made their medical studies possible, including the students themselves, their parents and professors, and former President Fidel Castro whose idea founded the ELAM program. “We owe ourselves to our vocation,” he reminded the graduates in closing, “to see people as patients, never clients, and to apply our knowledge, skills and commitment to help them.” Dr Carrizo was among various speakers who paid tribute to the late Rev. Lucius Walker, director of the Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)/Pastors for Peace, whose work was vital to the US contingent of students, calling him a “courageous man of principles.”
MEDICC International Director Gail Reed was a guest at the graduation. She explained that MEDICC provides the ELAM program with latest-edition textbooks and carries out cooperation projects with students from Haiti, Honduras and the USA. MEDICC supports US graduates’ transition into medical practice through the MD Pipeline to Community Service, which awards fellowships to defray the costs of US board exams and preparatory courses, provides students and graduates with US physician mentors, coordinates clinical opportunities for students in US public hospitals and community health centers, and conducts outreach about ELAM to US residency programs. “Our heartiest congratulations go to these wonderful young people from across the United States,” she said. “And we want to let them know how much they are needed back home, where health disparities continue to plague our communities along lines of race, gender and income.”
Portraits of US Graduates, Class of 2011
Kereese Gayle, Atlanta, Georgia
|  | |
Mena Ramos, Chicago, Illinois and the Philippines
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Michael Woods, Atlanta, Georgia
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Akira Jackson, Los Angeles (Compton), California
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Keasha Guerrier, Long Island, New York
|  | |
Photos: Eduado Añé
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Cuba's anti-malaria program in Ghana
Cuban Anti-Malaria Program Brings Positive Results in Ghana
Source: Prensa Latina, 07 July 2011
Efforts by specialists from the Cuban laboratory and pharmaceutical company Labiofam have reduced the rate of malaria by 75 percent in this capital, according to the Labiofam director.
Ghanaian Health Ministry authorities termed very positive the work carried out in this country by 22 Cuban cooperation workers from that institution, Labiofam director Jose Antonio Fraga told Prensa Latina.
Before leaving for the Republic of Congo, Fraga also stated that the objective of his stay in Ghana was to work with local authorities to assess the state of the Cuban anti-malaria program.
"We also discussed the possibility of expanding the plan nationwide," Fraga noted.
Fraga and his accompanying delegation met with Ghana Health Minister Joseph Yieleh Chireh and other officials to discuss the development and difficulties of the anti-malaria plan, the control of vector-borne diseases, and other issues. In the Republic of Congo, the Labiofam delegation will meet with a group of World Health Organization directors for Africa.
Source: Prensa Latina, 07 July 2011
Efforts by specialists from the Cuban laboratory and pharmaceutical company Labiofam have reduced the rate of malaria by 75 percent in this capital, according to the Labiofam director.
Ghanaian Health Ministry authorities termed very positive the work carried out in this country by 22 Cuban cooperation workers from that institution, Labiofam director Jose Antonio Fraga told Prensa Latina.
Before leaving for the Republic of Congo, Fraga also stated that the objective of his stay in Ghana was to work with local authorities to assess the state of the Cuban anti-malaria program.
"We also discussed the possibility of expanding the plan nationwide," Fraga noted.
Fraga and his accompanying delegation met with Ghana Health Minister Joseph Yieleh Chireh and other officials to discuss the development and difficulties of the anti-malaria plan, the control of vector-borne diseases, and other issues. In the Republic of Congo, the Labiofam delegation will meet with a group of World Health Organization directors for Africa.
President Mills meets Cuban doctors in the Castle Gardens, June 2010.
President acclaims Cuban Medical Brigade for excellent job
Source: Ghana News Agency (GNA), 10 June 2010.
President John Atta Mills on Friday expressed appreciation to the Cuban Medical Brigade for their invaluable services to deprived communities.
He appealed to the Ghanaians doctors who were unwilling to serve in needy communities for various reasons to take a cue from their Cuban counterparts. He said the Cuban example was a demonstration of deep love for the people, and that should make an impression on Ghanaian health professionals to accept postings to the interior parts of the nation.
President Mills gave the commendation during an interaction with the a delegation of the Cuban Medical Brigade, Labiofam Entrepreneurial Group and Cubans lecturing Spanish at the University of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Languages at the Osu Castle. Labiofam Group is engaged in a mosquito and malaria control programme in the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions on pilot basis.
President Mills commended the large presence of the Cuban medical doctors, saying: “Your dedication and commitment to duty impresses me most.” He said Cuba had been a friend to Ghana for years. President Mills promised that his Administration would strengthen the already strong relations between the two nations during his term of office. “Whatever challenges you face, we’ll sit down and look at them, so that we’ll able to remove the impediments for the success of your operations,” President Mills said. Dr Miguel Perez Cruz, Cuban Ambassador, announced that his country was prepared to increase the number of Cuban doctors from 200 to 250. He said steps were being taken for the construction of a factory for biolarvacide in Tamale.
Dr Cruz said a total of 1,179 Ghanaian students had graduated from Cuba at different levels of education, including 540 at the university level and 630 as technicians. In the present academic 33 Ghanaian students are studying medicine, 13 in other universities, and three at the International Sports School. Dr Phillipe Delgado, Leader of the Brigade, said the only problem the members faced in their assignments was that they miss their families back home.
Thursday, 7 July 2011
731 Haitians doctors graduated in Cuba
Cuba: 731 Haitians Doctors Graduated
Source: Prensa Latina, 07 July 2011.
Haitian physicians trained at the Caribbean School of Medical Sciences in Santiago de Cuba now number 731, after 115 new doctors graduated here on Thursday. This beneficial collaboration project with Haiti started 12 years ago as an idea of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
The first group of Haitian doctors graduated in 2005, 291 students are now enrolled as part of a goal of training 1,000 physicians in a decade, said the school's rector, Dr. Rosa Delia Deconger. Over 100 students are completing their residency, mainly in pediatrics, surgery, cardiology and obstetrics and gynecology, Granma newspaper reported.
In this way, Cuba is making one of the biggest contributions to the Haitian health system, which has 2.7 physicians per 10,000 inhabitants, when the World Health Organization says the ratio should be at least 25 to 10,000. The Caribbean School of Medical Sciences will soon mark its 31st anniversary, with a total of 4,812 graduates. These graduates include 1,051 students from 25 countries, mainly from the Caribbean and Africa, and 2,419 Cubans, in Nursing.
Source: Prensa Latina, 07 July 2011.
Haitian physicians trained at the Caribbean School of Medical Sciences in Santiago de Cuba now number 731, after 115 new doctors graduated here on Thursday. This beneficial collaboration project with Haiti started 12 years ago as an idea of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
The first group of Haitian doctors graduated in 2005, 291 students are now enrolled as part of a goal of training 1,000 physicians in a decade, said the school's rector, Dr. Rosa Delia Deconger. Over 100 students are completing their residency, mainly in pediatrics, surgery, cardiology and obstetrics and gynecology, Granma newspaper reported.
In this way, Cuba is making one of the biggest contributions to the Haitian health system, which has 2.7 physicians per 10,000 inhabitants, when the World Health Organization says the ratio should be at least 25 to 10,000. The Caribbean School of Medical Sciences will soon mark its 31st anniversary, with a total of 4,812 graduates. These graduates include 1,051 students from 25 countries, mainly from the Caribbean and Africa, and 2,419 Cubans, in Nursing.
Cuban Medical Brigade in Guatemala
Positive Results of Cuban Medical Brigade in Guatemala
Source: Prensa Latina, 04 Jul 2011.
The Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) in Guatemala closed the first semester of 2011 with the satisfactory fulfillment of principles of solidarity and brotherhood between both peoples, national coordinator Reinaldo Pons stated.
Some 332 Cuban collaborators are still working in this country with a preventive-curative or clinical-epidemiological focus, which characterizes our training and the objectives of our work, Pons told Prensa Latina.
Retelling the first six months of 2011, the top leader of the island´s cooperation in this sphere said the contingent is comprised of 57 in Operation Miracle free eye surgery program, and 275 in the integral health plan.
Of them, 238 are physicians in different specialties, 81 in hospitals, 152 work in different primary care levels, and five in the ministry of the branch and the BMC central leadership.
So far, the collaboration covers 13.1 percent of the Guatemalan population, more than 1,939,000 people, distributed in 29 brigades in departments and municipalities, Pons noted.
Guatemalan Health Minister Calls Cuban Doctors Magicians
Source: Prensa Latina, 15 December 2010
Guatemalan Health and Social Welfare Minister (MSPAS) Marco Tulio Sosa requested enhancing medical services provided by the Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) working in his country.
[H]e termed magicians the Cuban medical staff - doctors, nurses, engineers and statistic[ian]s - because of the results of their work.
Sosa, that runs the office from the government of President Alvaro Arzu (1996-2000), recalled that the BMC arrived in his country to mitigate the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Their work has been remarkable.
We realized that their work after the hurricane had to be extended past the emergency, taking their services to remote and distant locations. The Cuban brigades are giving Guatemalans "hope, assistance, love and plenty of health".
He recalled that district hospitals in 1998 and 1999 were just giving office services and the Cuban specialists brought them back to life providing services of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and gynecology, among others.
This is just a short story on the BMC but "rather than me as minister, the people is more than grateful with the Cubans. I christened them magicians, because of the personnel that repaired medical equipment already discarded, helping save more than USD$64,000 this year."
Minister Sosa also lauded the Cuban professionals' coverage that helped compensate the shortage of medical staff in remote areas of Guatemala, taking outpatient assistance to the poor and destitute in villages.
On the future of Cuba's medical cooperation here and over 600 Guatemalans that benefit with scholarships at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba, Sosa was optimistic and grateful to the Island.
Guatemala does not graduates enough doctors like Cuba, "this is why I sent youth, especially from rural areas to study at the ELAM but that does not pose a short -term threat to the presence of Cuban docs. That will still take a while," he added.
"Many years will pass because we will not allow gaps in the services the BMC currently provides. On the contrary, the population in remote areas already know what that is, in addition to accompaniment and prevention. Strengthening and boosting are enough," he added.
Minister Sosa regretted that Cuba was unable to meet Guatemala's official request to expand these services "due to the support it provides to many developing countries in Latin America and elsewhere."
"As long as Cuban Medical Brigades [are] necessary we will sustain and appreciate them," stressed Sosa who assured that Guatemala's public health system has [a] past and [a] present in view of the commendable work of the Cuban "magicians".
Source: Prensa Latina, 04 Jul 2011.
The Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) in Guatemala closed the first semester of 2011 with the satisfactory fulfillment of principles of solidarity and brotherhood between both peoples, national coordinator Reinaldo Pons stated.
Some 332 Cuban collaborators are still working in this country with a preventive-curative or clinical-epidemiological focus, which characterizes our training and the objectives of our work, Pons told Prensa Latina.
Retelling the first six months of 2011, the top leader of the island´s cooperation in this sphere said the contingent is comprised of 57 in Operation Miracle free eye surgery program, and 275 in the integral health plan.
Of them, 238 are physicians in different specialties, 81 in hospitals, 152 work in different primary care levels, and five in the ministry of the branch and the BMC central leadership.
So far, the collaboration covers 13.1 percent of the Guatemalan population, more than 1,939,000 people, distributed in 29 brigades in departments and municipalities, Pons noted.
Guatemalan Health Minister Calls Cuban Doctors Magicians
Source: Prensa Latina, 15 December 2010
Guatemalan Health and Social Welfare Minister (MSPAS) Marco Tulio Sosa requested enhancing medical services provided by the Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) working in his country.
[H]e termed magicians the Cuban medical staff - doctors, nurses, engineers and statistic[ian]s - because of the results of their work.
Sosa, that runs the office from the government of President Alvaro Arzu (1996-2000), recalled that the BMC arrived in his country to mitigate the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Their work has been remarkable.
We realized that their work after the hurricane had to be extended past the emergency, taking their services to remote and distant locations. The Cuban brigades are giving Guatemalans "hope, assistance, love and plenty of health".
He recalled that district hospitals in 1998 and 1999 were just giving office services and the Cuban specialists brought them back to life providing services of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and gynecology, among others.
This is just a short story on the BMC but "rather than me as minister, the people is more than grateful with the Cubans. I christened them magicians, because of the personnel that repaired medical equipment already discarded, helping save more than USD$64,000 this year."
Minister Sosa also lauded the Cuban professionals' coverage that helped compensate the shortage of medical staff in remote areas of Guatemala, taking outpatient assistance to the poor and destitute in villages.
On the future of Cuba's medical cooperation here and over 600 Guatemalans that benefit with scholarships at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba, Sosa was optimistic and grateful to the Island.
Guatemala does not graduates enough doctors like Cuba, "this is why I sent youth, especially from rural areas to study at the ELAM but that does not pose a short -term threat to the presence of Cuban docs. That will still take a while," he added.
"Many years will pass because we will not allow gaps in the services the BMC currently provides. On the contrary, the population in remote areas already know what that is, in addition to accompaniment and prevention. Strengthening and boosting are enough," he added.
Minister Sosa regretted that Cuba was unable to meet Guatemala's official request to expand these services "due to the support it provides to many developing countries in Latin America and elsewhere."
"As long as Cuban Medical Brigades [are] necessary we will sustain and appreciate them," stressed Sosa who assured that Guatemala's public health system has [a] past and [a] present in view of the commendable work of the Cuban "magicians".
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Cuban doctors treated 0.5m Rwandans
Rwanda: Cuban Medics End Two-Year Duty Tour
by Edwin Musoni, 10 March 2011.
Source: The New Times
Twenty nine Cuban volunteer specialist doctors, Tuesday, ended their two-year tour of duty in Rwanda where they treated over 500,000 patients from various hospitals across the country.
The doctors also trained Rwandan medical practitioners. The Minister of Health, Dr Richard Sezibera acknowledged the work done by the Cubans.
“You have done a lot and we are very grateful. You did not only treat thousands of Rwandans but also did community outreach programmes which have promoted health in our country,” Dr Sezibera said. “I commend the manner in which you executed your work; you also helped Rwandan clinics in your free time.”
Sezibera thanked the South African and Cuban governments for what he termed as a “South to South Cooperation” with Rwanda. “This is the third brigade and you replaced a number of your colleagues who were here before. I want to say that this mode of cooperation is indeed a model of south to south cooperation,” said Sezibera.
He noted that the agreement Rwanda had with South Africa and Cuba has expired but the government is in talks with the two countries to renew it. Dr. David Lazarus, a Cuban oncologist hailed the partnership his country has with Rwanda and said that during their stay in Rwanda the team worked with commitment and had left a significant impact to many lives.
by Edwin Musoni, 10 March 2011.
Source: The New Times
Twenty nine Cuban volunteer specialist doctors, Tuesday, ended their two-year tour of duty in Rwanda where they treated over 500,000 patients from various hospitals across the country.
The doctors also trained Rwandan medical practitioners. The Minister of Health, Dr Richard Sezibera acknowledged the work done by the Cubans.
“You have done a lot and we are very grateful. You did not only treat thousands of Rwandans but also did community outreach programmes which have promoted health in our country,” Dr Sezibera said. “I commend the manner in which you executed your work; you also helped Rwandan clinics in your free time.”
Sezibera thanked the South African and Cuban governments for what he termed as a “South to South Cooperation” with Rwanda. “This is the third brigade and you replaced a number of your colleagues who were here before. I want to say that this mode of cooperation is indeed a model of south to south cooperation,” said Sezibera.
He noted that the agreement Rwanda had with South Africa and Cuba has expired but the government is in talks with the two countries to renew it. Dr. David Lazarus, a Cuban oncologist hailed the partnership his country has with Rwanda and said that during their stay in Rwanda the team worked with commitment and had left a significant impact to many lives.
Mali Inaugurates Ophthalmologic Center
Mali Inaugurates Ophthalmologic Center with Cuban Assistance
Source: Solvision.co.cu, 21 November 2010.
With the help of Cuba, Mali is retaking cataract operations and the treatment of other eye diseases with the inauguration of a new ophthalmologic center in Bamako, the country’s capital.
According to the website of the Cuban Foreign Ministry (www.cubaminrex.cu), these procedures came to a halt in 2008 in order to build the new center, which is now in better conditions to continue with the Cuba-Mali cooperation health project.
Until 2008, Cuban specialists had performed eye surgery on more than 6,000 people from this African nation and the diagnosis of patients in need of surgery continued during the construction period.
Today, there are 124 Cuban health professionals in working Mali, including 11 at the new ophthalmologic center. As part of a bilateral cooperation program, there are other Cuban professionals working in this African country: 16 professors teaching at the Arts Conservatory and 14 sports trainers.
Cuba also contributes to the training of medicine students from Mali; nowadays there are more than 150 Malian youths studying different majors in the island.
Source: Solvision.co.cu, 21 November 2010.
With the help of Cuba, Mali is retaking cataract operations and the treatment of other eye diseases with the inauguration of a new ophthalmologic center in Bamako, the country’s capital.
According to the website of the Cuban Foreign Ministry (www.cubaminrex.cu), these procedures came to a halt in 2008 in order to build the new center, which is now in better conditions to continue with the Cuba-Mali cooperation health project.
Until 2008, Cuban specialists had performed eye surgery on more than 6,000 people from this African nation and the diagnosis of patients in need of surgery continued during the construction period.
Today, there are 124 Cuban health professionals in working Mali, including 11 at the new ophthalmologic center. As part of a bilateral cooperation program, there are other Cuban professionals working in this African country: 16 professors teaching at the Arts Conservatory and 14 sports trainers.
Cuba also contributes to the training of medicine students from Mali; nowadays there are more than 150 Malian youths studying different majors in the island.
Monday, 23 May 2011
1.3m Latin Americans treated under Mision Milagro (Operation Miracle)
Operation Miracle Benefitted 496,000 Venezuelans
Source: Prensa Latina, 23 May 2011.
A total of 496,071 Venezuelans have benefited in seven years with the Operation Miracle, implemented in that country to treat visual impairment, said Monday the coordinator of the Ophthalmology Center in the department of Vargas, Carlos Padilla.
Padilla explained to Venezolana de Television that the social program was born on 8 July 2004 as a result of an agreement between the governments of Venezuela and Cuba for ensuring free eye treatment to low-income persons.
The initiative was formalized a year later, on August 21, 2005, through the Sandino Commitment, signed in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, between the Venezuelan and Cuban presidents, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, respectively.
In December of that year, the program expanded to other countries in Latin America and since then more than 1,324,000 patients from 12 Latin American countries have been treated, said Padilla.
According to the report of Padilla, out-patient consultations exceeded 15,539,000 up to 2011 and more than 21 million eyeglasses were provided.
Source: Prensa Latina, 23 May 2011.
A total of 496,071 Venezuelans have benefited in seven years with the Operation Miracle, implemented in that country to treat visual impairment, said Monday the coordinator of the Ophthalmology Center in the department of Vargas, Carlos Padilla.
Padilla explained to Venezolana de Television that the social program was born on 8 July 2004 as a result of an agreement between the governments of Venezuela and Cuba for ensuring free eye treatment to low-income persons.
The initiative was formalized a year later, on August 21, 2005, through the Sandino Commitment, signed in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, between the Venezuelan and Cuban presidents, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, respectively.
In December of that year, the program expanded to other countries in Latin America and since then more than 1,324,000 patients from 12 Latin American countries have been treated, said Padilla.
According to the report of Padilla, out-patient consultations exceeded 15,539,000 up to 2011 and more than 21 million eyeglasses were provided.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
60,000 Jamaicans received free eye-care
More than 60000 Jamaicans screened under eye care programme
by Douglas McIntosh, Jamaica Information Service Reporter, 12 May 2011.
More than 60,000 Jamaicans have been screened under the bi-lateral eye care programme, 'Miracle Operation', jointly administered locally by the Health Ministries of Jamaica and Cuba, since the initiative's establishment in 2005.
Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Yuri Gala Lopez, says the benefits accruing have mainly been surgeries, of which just over 6,000 have been performed, free of charge, over the past six years, in Cuba and Jamaica.
From left: Nurse Lisbey Garcia Paz, Yaima Gonzales, third secretary of embassy of Cuba; Elys Maria Chapelin and Olivia Vazquoz at yesterday's welcoming ceremony for Cuban nurses at the Norman Manley International Airport. Gladstone Taylor/Photographer
"During 2010, the centre performed more than 1,200 surgeries on Jamaican patients, while in 2011 they have performed over 500 surgeries so far. I think this is a very important example of the South-South co-operation that Jamaica and Cuba have been enjoying over the years," he said. The bilateral partnership between Jamaica and Cuba has seen the former benefitting significantly from medical expertise and technical co-operation provided by the Spanish-speaking nation.
Currently, more than 130 health specialists are stationed across the Health Ministry's four regions, providing a range of services. The personnel include nurses who currently account for some 120 of the cadre. The latest batch of nurses is the second to be recruited since the start of the year, following 35 in January.
Ambassador Lopez said the arrival of the nurses "reaffirms the dynamism of that bi-lateral programme of co-operation, which allows the presence in Jamaica of more than 130 health specialists all across the island."
He disclosed that the Health Ministries of Jamaica and Cuba have also been having dialogue on the possibility of increasing the presence of Cuban biomedical personnel locally. He recounted that a contingent of Jamaican nurses visited Cuba in January, to participate in a training programme on nephrology.
"I think they have enjoyed their stay in Cuba, and that it was actually a very fruitful experience that we are looking forward to continue expanding, if possible. Let me stress that those bi-lateral programmes are contributing to strengthening, even more, the bonds between the peoples and governments of Jamaica and Cuba which, over the years, have been based on strong ties of friendship and co-operation," Ambassador Lopez said.
See also: 86 Jamaicans Leave for Eye Surgeries in Cuba Next Week, JIS, 15 February 2008.
by Douglas McIntosh, Jamaica Information Service Reporter, 12 May 2011.
More than 60,000 Jamaicans have been screened under the bi-lateral eye care programme, 'Miracle Operation', jointly administered locally by the Health Ministries of Jamaica and Cuba, since the initiative's establishment in 2005.
Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Yuri Gala Lopez, says the benefits accruing have mainly been surgeries, of which just over 6,000 have been performed, free of charge, over the past six years, in Cuba and Jamaica.
Speaking at a special welcome reception at the Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston, last week for some 16 Cuban nurses recruited to work in the local public health system, Mr. Lopez said between 2010 and now, over 1,700 surgeries have been performed at the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Centre, located in Kingston.
From left: Nurse Lisbey Garcia Paz, Yaima Gonzales, third secretary of embassy of Cuba; Elys Maria Chapelin and Olivia Vazquoz at yesterday's welcoming ceremony for Cuban nurses at the Norman Manley International Airport. Gladstone Taylor/Photographer"During 2010, the centre performed more than 1,200 surgeries on Jamaican patients, while in 2011 they have performed over 500 surgeries so far. I think this is a very important example of the South-South co-operation that Jamaica and Cuba have been enjoying over the years," he said. The bilateral partnership between Jamaica and Cuba has seen the former benefitting significantly from medical expertise and technical co-operation provided by the Spanish-speaking nation.
Currently, more than 130 health specialists are stationed across the Health Ministry's four regions, providing a range of services. The personnel include nurses who currently account for some 120 of the cadre. The latest batch of nurses is the second to be recruited since the start of the year, following 35 in January.
Ambassador Lopez said the arrival of the nurses "reaffirms the dynamism of that bi-lateral programme of co-operation, which allows the presence in Jamaica of more than 130 health specialists all across the island."
He disclosed that the Health Ministries of Jamaica and Cuba have also been having dialogue on the possibility of increasing the presence of Cuban biomedical personnel locally. He recounted that a contingent of Jamaican nurses visited Cuba in January, to participate in a training programme on nephrology.
"I think they have enjoyed their stay in Cuba, and that it was actually a very fruitful experience that we are looking forward to continue expanding, if possible. Let me stress that those bi-lateral programmes are contributing to strengthening, even more, the bonds between the peoples and governments of Jamaica and Cuba which, over the years, have been based on strong ties of friendship and co-operation," Ambassador Lopez said.
See also: 86 Jamaicans Leave for Eye Surgeries in Cuba Next Week, JIS, 15 February 2008.
Friday, 13 May 2011
56,000 Cuban eye operations in Mexico
Zacatecas Thanks Cuba for Operation Miracle
Source: Prensa Latina, 08 May 2011.
The Zacatecas state legislature thanked Cuba for its contribution to the Operation Miracle program, via which 4,800 patients have received free eyesight restoration surgery since 2007.
Lawmaker Blas Avalos presented a certificate of recognition to Cuban Consul Luis Quirantes, conferred by the State Legislature. The Zacateca recognition goes first of all to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, Avalos stated.
During the ceremony, Avalos said that about 56,000 ophthalmological surgeries were performed at Republica de Cuba Hospital in the neighboring city of Saltillo, state of Coahuila, since the opening of that medical center in 2007. Nearly 2,300 patients with different eye afflictions have been assisted there this year, the legislator said.
Source: Prensa Latina, 08 May 2011.
The Zacatecas state legislature thanked Cuba for its contribution to the Operation Miracle program, via which 4,800 patients have received free eyesight restoration surgery since 2007.
Lawmaker Blas Avalos presented a certificate of recognition to Cuban Consul Luis Quirantes, conferred by the State Legislature. The Zacateca recognition goes first of all to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, Avalos stated.
During the ceremony, Avalos said that about 56,000 ophthalmological surgeries were performed at Republica de Cuba Hospital in the neighboring city of Saltillo, state of Coahuila, since the opening of that medical center in 2007. Nearly 2,300 patients with different eye afflictions have been assisted there this year, the legislator said.
Friday, 15 April 2011
RATB Reports: 50th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs victory, Glasgow, Scotland
written for RATB by Michael MacGregor, 14 April 2011.
On Sunday 10 April, 50 people gathered in Glasgow’s city centre to discuss, debate and educate each other about Cuba’s decisive defeat of US-backed counterrevolution at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. While the majority of the audience were born well after that historic moment, the vitality and solid achievements of Cuba’s socialist revolution were upheld and applauded as central to today’s unfolding battle against the cuts. Speaker after speaker, from the platform and the floor, made the real connections between Cuba’s socialism and internationalism and the struggles of the here and now. Helen Yaffe, author of 'Che Guevara: the Economics of Revolution', laid out the scale and continuity of the attacks on Cuba since the Revolution of 1959. She demonstrated that the form but not the purpose of these attacks have changed. The United States government first employed a method well tested and effective in Latin America and the rest of the world – right up to today!
This ‘Track One’ strategy of direct military intervention led to the attempted invasion of Cuba on 15 April 1961. Crushingly repelled by the Cuban people, it marked the point at which socialism was openly declared. What the Revolution then has had to face for nearly 50 years was the United States ‘Track Two’ plan which continues and has been strengthened in recent years. This is based on the illegal blockade of Cuba which has crippled Cuba’s economic development, costing billions of dollars and which is annually condemned by the overwhelming majority of countries at the United Nations, leaving the US and Israel in ignominious isolation.
'Track Two' also involves the financing of so-called opposition groups in Cuba whereby the multinational media and imperialist diplomats promote a picture of Cuba as some sort of undemocratic failed state just ripe for western intervention and a regime of free market neo-liberalism. This approach, which is fully endorsed by the Obama regime in the US, is as doomed to failure as the Bay of Pigs invasion. Because, as US secret intelligence files from the last five decades and including the latest WikiLeaks, show, there has never been any significant opposition to the Cuban Revolution amongst its people.
The Socialist Revolution declared in 1961 at the Bay of Pigs - what the Cubans call Playa Girón - has delivered. It has delivered what 30 years of neo-liberalism in Latin America and throughout the world has itself failed to deliver. The results of neo-liberalism was to increase the number of Latin Americans living in poverty from 136 million to 200 million during the 1980s alone, and to transfer $100 billion of assets from state into private (mainly foreign) hands in the 1990s. Over these two decades, GDP per capita growth was just 0.45% per year, demonstrating that privatisation, austerity measures and the rolling back of the state led to stagnation and poverty, not growth and prosperity. The rule of the market, of the banks and multinationals, of imperialism, has only further impoverished millions and the Cubans know this and will not accept the arguments or guns and bombs of its ghoulish protagonists.
Despite the US blockade and without neo-liberalist economics, Cuban socialism has fed, cared for, educated and raised its people to a level of cultural and sporting achievement that is an example to the oppressed of this world and its progressive peoples.
This is an example which must be upheld by socialists and anti-imperialists and made known and popular in the present battles. The US has never stopped fearing that Cuba’s example is being followed and it is the all-powerful US that has singularly failed to prevent this development. Latin America, from Venezuela to the Caribbean, is burying the failed and bloody experiment of naked national and class exploitation known as neo-liberalism.
People spoke too of Cuba’s major role in the defeat of colonial regimes in Africa - from Algeria to Angola - and of how the 300,000 Cubans who fought there contributed to the eventual defeat of racist apartheid in South Africa. From internationalist soldiers fighting real humanitarian wars then to the tens of thousands of Cuban doctors and medical staff working in poor countries around the world now, Cuba’s successful struggle for survival in the context of the United States brutal blockade was recognised over and over as an incredible but inarguable reality. Statistics, accounts and powerful comparisons evidenced what is being gained under socialism in Cuba.
The present reality of the cuts in developed, imperialist Britain made a stark and shocking contrast. During the difficulties of Cuba’s Special Period from 1991, which meant an effective collapse of its economy, Fidel Castro made the point that not one school, day centre, old peoples home or hospital had closed and that the unemployed had not been abandoned. This is precisely the opposite of what is going on right now in Scotland, England and Wales and in capitalist countries around the world. Contributors cited the new Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) pamphlet - No Cuts -Full Stop! as an essential tool in arming the new anti-cuts movement with the arguments to defend the working class and point out the way to socialism. The hall erupted in applause to approve the warning made that we cannot allow this movement to be led by a Labour party which was carrying out those savage, inhuman cuts in local councils.
On the platform was Dominic O’Hara from the Glasgow Defence Campaign (GDC) and a supporter of FRFI. O’Hara is on trial after participating in student demonstrations in Glasgow against education cuts, and the GDC has been established to oppose political policing and defend democratic rights in Glasgow. O’Hara directly linked Cuba's social welfare provision to the current cuts in capitalist Britain. O’Hara challenged the criticisms made of Cuba’s human rights record as false and hypocritical. Democratic rights to organise and protest were seriously under attack from the state and its thuggish police, and we needed to go out onto the streets, go out to the people and organise, he declared.
Fidel’s condemnation of the brutal and repressive apparatus of capitalist states in defending injustice and privilege was raised and the complete absence of such measures in socialist Cuba proudly asserted. The working people and peasantry of this small island defeated - wiped out in 72 hours! - the sons of millionaire land owners, sugar barons and bankers armed by US multinationals, at the Bay of Pigs 50 years ago. Fidel Castro called this victory the first defeat of imperialism in the Western Hemisphere. The declaration of socialist revolution made by Cuba at that critical life or death moment brought about its welfare state of free education, health care and human solidarity. That declaration echoes through the decades to those organising to fight today’s battles here.
Venceremos! We Shall Win!
Long Live Socialist Cuba! No Cuts - Full Stop!
On Sunday 10 April, 50 people gathered in Glasgow’s city centre to discuss, debate and educate each other about Cuba’s decisive defeat of US-backed counterrevolution at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. While the majority of the audience were born well after that historic moment, the vitality and solid achievements of Cuba’s socialist revolution were upheld and applauded as central to today’s unfolding battle against the cuts. Speaker after speaker, from the platform and the floor, made the real connections between Cuba’s socialism and internationalism and the struggles of the here and now. Helen Yaffe, author of 'Che Guevara: the Economics of Revolution', laid out the scale and continuity of the attacks on Cuba since the Revolution of 1959. She demonstrated that the form but not the purpose of these attacks have changed. The United States government first employed a method well tested and effective in Latin America and the rest of the world – right up to today!
This ‘Track One’ strategy of direct military intervention led to the attempted invasion of Cuba on 15 April 1961. Crushingly repelled by the Cuban people, it marked the point at which socialism was openly declared. What the Revolution then has had to face for nearly 50 years was the United States ‘Track Two’ plan which continues and has been strengthened in recent years. This is based on the illegal blockade of Cuba which has crippled Cuba’s economic development, costing billions of dollars and which is annually condemned by the overwhelming majority of countries at the United Nations, leaving the US and Israel in ignominious isolation.'Track Two' also involves the financing of so-called opposition groups in Cuba whereby the multinational media and imperialist diplomats promote a picture of Cuba as some sort of undemocratic failed state just ripe for western intervention and a regime of free market neo-liberalism. This approach, which is fully endorsed by the Obama regime in the US, is as doomed to failure as the Bay of Pigs invasion. Because, as US secret intelligence files from the last five decades and including the latest WikiLeaks, show, there has never been any significant opposition to the Cuban Revolution amongst its people.
The Socialist Revolution declared in 1961 at the Bay of Pigs - what the Cubans call Playa Girón - has delivered. It has delivered what 30 years of neo-liberalism in Latin America and throughout the world has itself failed to deliver. The results of neo-liberalism was to increase the number of Latin Americans living in poverty from 136 million to 200 million during the 1980s alone, and to transfer $100 billion of assets from state into private (mainly foreign) hands in the 1990s. Over these two decades, GDP per capita growth was just 0.45% per year, demonstrating that privatisation, austerity measures and the rolling back of the state led to stagnation and poverty, not growth and prosperity. The rule of the market, of the banks and multinationals, of imperialism, has only further impoverished millions and the Cubans know this and will not accept the arguments or guns and bombs of its ghoulish protagonists.
Despite the US blockade and without neo-liberalist economics, Cuban socialism has fed, cared for, educated and raised its people to a level of cultural and sporting achievement that is an example to the oppressed of this world and its progressive peoples.
This is an example which must be upheld by socialists and anti-imperialists and made known and popular in the present battles. The US has never stopped fearing that Cuba’s example is being followed and it is the all-powerful US that has singularly failed to prevent this development. Latin America, from Venezuela to the Caribbean, is burying the failed and bloody experiment of naked national and class exploitation known as neo-liberalism.
People spoke too of Cuba’s major role in the defeat of colonial regimes in Africa - from Algeria to Angola - and of how the 300,000 Cubans who fought there contributed to the eventual defeat of racist apartheid in South Africa. From internationalist soldiers fighting real humanitarian wars then to the tens of thousands of Cuban doctors and medical staff working in poor countries around the world now, Cuba’s successful struggle for survival in the context of the United States brutal blockade was recognised over and over as an incredible but inarguable reality. Statistics, accounts and powerful comparisons evidenced what is being gained under socialism in Cuba.
The present reality of the cuts in developed, imperialist Britain made a stark and shocking contrast. During the difficulties of Cuba’s Special Period from 1991, which meant an effective collapse of its economy, Fidel Castro made the point that not one school, day centre, old peoples home or hospital had closed and that the unemployed had not been abandoned. This is precisely the opposite of what is going on right now in Scotland, England and Wales and in capitalist countries around the world. Contributors cited the new Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) pamphlet - No Cuts -Full Stop! as an essential tool in arming the new anti-cuts movement with the arguments to defend the working class and point out the way to socialism. The hall erupted in applause to approve the warning made that we cannot allow this movement to be led by a Labour party which was carrying out those savage, inhuman cuts in local councils.
On the platform was Dominic O’Hara from the Glasgow Defence Campaign (GDC) and a supporter of FRFI. O’Hara is on trial after participating in student demonstrations in Glasgow against education cuts, and the GDC has been established to oppose political policing and defend democratic rights in Glasgow. O’Hara directly linked Cuba's social welfare provision to the current cuts in capitalist Britain. O’Hara challenged the criticisms made of Cuba’s human rights record as false and hypocritical. Democratic rights to organise and protest were seriously under attack from the state and its thuggish police, and we needed to go out onto the streets, go out to the people and organise, he declared.
Fidel’s condemnation of the brutal and repressive apparatus of capitalist states in defending injustice and privilege was raised and the complete absence of such measures in socialist Cuba proudly asserted. The working people and peasantry of this small island defeated - wiped out in 72 hours! - the sons of millionaire land owners, sugar barons and bankers armed by US multinationals, at the Bay of Pigs 50 years ago. Fidel Castro called this victory the first defeat of imperialism in the Western Hemisphere. The declaration of socialist revolution made by Cuba at that critical life or death moment brought about its welfare state of free education, health care and human solidarity. That declaration echoes through the decades to those organising to fight today’s battles here.
Venceremos! We Shall Win!
Long Live Socialist Cuba! No Cuts - Full Stop!
Cuba and Africa: A History Worthy of Pride
by Dr. Piero Gleijeses, Professor of US Foreign Policy, Johns Hopkins University.
Source: Socialist Voice, 25 August 2005.
Dr. Gleijeses is the author of Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959-1976, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002
The role of Cuba in the world since 1959 is unprecedented.[1] For more than four decades, Castro has challenged and humiliated the imperial arrogance of the United States. In the 1960’s, the fear of a second Cuba in Latin America dogged the leaders of the United States and impelled the creation of the Alliance for Progress. Since the end of the 1970’s until the end of the 80’s, Havana maintained a strong presence alongside those who fought for revolutionary change in Central America.
The arrival of 36,000 Cuban soldiers in Angola between November 1975 and March 1976 astonished the world; however, it was only one stage along the road beginning in 1959 that had taken the Cubans to Algeria, the Congo Leopoldville (later called Zaire), the Congo Brazzaville and Guinea-Bissau.[2]
Source: Socialist Voice, 25 August 2005.
Dr. Gleijeses is the author of Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959-1976, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002
The role of Cuba in the world since 1959 is unprecedented.[1] For more than four decades, Castro has challenged and humiliated the imperial arrogance of the United States. In the 1960’s, the fear of a second Cuba in Latin America dogged the leaders of the United States and impelled the creation of the Alliance for Progress. Since the end of the 1970’s until the end of the 80’s, Havana maintained a strong presence alongside those who fought for revolutionary change in Central America.
The arrival of 36,000 Cuban soldiers in Angola between November 1975 and March 1976 astonished the world; however, it was only one stage along the road beginning in 1959 that had taken the Cubans to Algeria, the Congo Leopoldville (later called Zaire), the Congo Brazzaville and Guinea-Bissau.[2]
Friday, 25 March 2011
Aristide grateful for work of Cuban doctors in Haiti
Source: Granma, 19 March 2011.
by Sinay Cespedes Moreno (in Puerto Principe).
The former Haitian president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, today welcomed the work of Cuban doctors, upon his arrival in Port-au-Prince after seven years of exile in South Africa.
In a press conference from the airport, the ex-president referred, in Spanish, to the work of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti.
"I want to thank the Cuban brothers, especially the doctors who are in the fight against cholera," he said. He wondered, moreover, how many people would have died without their help and declared: "I hope their light will shine on others."
The Cuban medical brigade has been working in Haiti for 12 years, but increased its presence following the outbreak of cholera last October, along with dozens of graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).
According to official statements, these doctors have treated about 40% of the patients with that disease, which has claimed more than 4,672 lives. Currently, Cubans and ELAM graduates are working in 156 health centers nationwide, 67 of them as part of a joint program with Venezuela.
Until earlier this month, experts had saved 70,890 Haitian cholera patients, with a fatality rate below 1%. (PL)
by Sinay Cespedes Moreno (in Puerto Principe).
The former Haitian president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, today welcomed the work of Cuban doctors, upon his arrival in Port-au-Prince after seven years of exile in South Africa.
In a press conference from the airport, the ex-president referred, in Spanish, to the work of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti.
"I want to thank the Cuban brothers, especially the doctors who are in the fight against cholera," he said. He wondered, moreover, how many people would have died without their help and declared: "I hope their light will shine on others."
The Cuban medical brigade has been working in Haiti for 12 years, but increased its presence following the outbreak of cholera last October, along with dozens of graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).
According to official statements, these doctors have treated about 40% of the patients with that disease, which has claimed more than 4,672 lives. Currently, Cubans and ELAM graduates are working in 156 health centers nationwide, 67 of them as part of a joint program with Venezuela.
Until earlier this month, experts had saved 70,890 Haitian cholera patients, with a fatality rate below 1%. (PL)
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Mission Milagro
The miracle of sight
by Edward Ellis, 30 July 2010.
Source: Correo del Orinoco International.
The Venezuelan and Cuban health care program, which performs free eye surgery for people around Latin America has treated over 1 million patients since 2004, according to data released by the Venezuelan government earlier this month.
The social program, known as Mission Miracle, is one of the many agreements signed between Cuba and Venezuela in the area of health care. Completely free of charge, the program provides vision related surgery to low-income individuals who would otherwise not have the fi nancial resources for these operations. “Providing medical attention is a very important act”, said Noris Villalonga, Coordinator of Mission Miracle in the Venezuelan states of Lara, Yaracuy, and Portuguesa. “I think the value of providing the people with excellent care where there is quality and humanity is immeasurable”.
MORE THAN ONE MILLION TREATED
According to offi cial statistics, the exact number of patients treated by the mission has reached 1,139,798 with an average of 5,000 operations occuring on a weekly basis in 74 medical centers around Venezuela. “We travel all over our assigned regions to make diagnoses, so that underserved populations receive this attention becuase the costs of eye surgery are very high and there are people that don’t have the resources”, explained Villalonga.
In the first four months of 2010, the Mission has helped 101,112 people recover or repair their vision. The majority of problems treated by the program include pterygium, cataracts, strabismus, retinopathies, glaucoma, myopia, ptosis, and diffi culties in the cornea.
HEALTH CARE FOR HUMANITY
Although the vast majority of surgeries are performed on Venezuelans, residents from other Latin American nations have also benefi ted from the program.
This year, 3,398 operations have been performed on non-Venezuelans. Lida Segura is one of the 5,733 Ecuadorans who has been attended by the mission since 2005. Segura recently received an operation in the state of Lara and spoke about the difference that it will make in her life. “I’m 82 years old and I haven’t been seeing well for some 4 years now in either of my eyes. When I can see well, I will go out again and for this I am really happy. Now I can already see clearer thanks to the operation”, she said. “This has never happened… None of the earlier presidents cared about us, they only denied us assistance”, indicated Segura, thanking Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the chance to receive the free medical assistance.
Another Ecuadoran patient, Frenda Villasilva, commented on the quality of care and the significance that improved eyesight will have for her. “I have been treated better than in my own home. I’m 65 years old and you can imagine what it means to be able to see well at this age. To have 20-20 vision is to be practically reborn”, she exclaimed. Residents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay have all benefited from the free operations.
Last week, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a law laying the groundwork for the program to reach the residents of El Salvador. Salvadoran doctors will evaluate eye-related illnesses and select patients who will then receive treatment in Venezuela.
During its initial phase, Mission Milagro was based in Cuba where 204,000 Venezuelans in need of care were sent for surguries. Venezuela is now the site of the operations where Cuban and Venezuelan doctors work side by side. Of the over 900,000 operations that have been carried out in Venezuela, 570,902 have been performed by Cubans and another 368,643 has been performed by Venezuelans.
“I am a doctor and a health promoter”, declared Coordinator Villalonga. “For me it’s a great responsibility that I must assume with dignity. Health cannot be played with. And to be able to receive such a great number of our Latin American brothers and sisters is the most amazing thing because it integrates us more as a region”.
by Edward Ellis, 30 July 2010.
Source: Correo del Orinoco International.
The Venezuelan and Cuban health care program, which performs free eye surgery for people around Latin America has treated over 1 million patients since 2004, according to data released by the Venezuelan government earlier this month.The social program, known as Mission Miracle, is one of the many agreements signed between Cuba and Venezuela in the area of health care. Completely free of charge, the program provides vision related surgery to low-income individuals who would otherwise not have the fi nancial resources for these operations. “Providing medical attention is a very important act”, said Noris Villalonga, Coordinator of Mission Miracle in the Venezuelan states of Lara, Yaracuy, and Portuguesa. “I think the value of providing the people with excellent care where there is quality and humanity is immeasurable”.
MORE THAN ONE MILLION TREATED
According to offi cial statistics, the exact number of patients treated by the mission has reached 1,139,798 with an average of 5,000 operations occuring on a weekly basis in 74 medical centers around Venezuela. “We travel all over our assigned regions to make diagnoses, so that underserved populations receive this attention becuase the costs of eye surgery are very high and there are people that don’t have the resources”, explained Villalonga.
In the first four months of 2010, the Mission has helped 101,112 people recover or repair their vision. The majority of problems treated by the program include pterygium, cataracts, strabismus, retinopathies, glaucoma, myopia, ptosis, and diffi culties in the cornea.
HEALTH CARE FOR HUMANITY
Although the vast majority of surgeries are performed on Venezuelans, residents from other Latin American nations have also benefi ted from the program.
This year, 3,398 operations have been performed on non-Venezuelans. Lida Segura is one of the 5,733 Ecuadorans who has been attended by the mission since 2005. Segura recently received an operation in the state of Lara and spoke about the difference that it will make in her life. “I’m 82 years old and I haven’t been seeing well for some 4 years now in either of my eyes. When I can see well, I will go out again and for this I am really happy. Now I can already see clearer thanks to the operation”, she said. “This has never happened… None of the earlier presidents cared about us, they only denied us assistance”, indicated Segura, thanking Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the chance to receive the free medical assistance.
Another Ecuadoran patient, Frenda Villasilva, commented on the quality of care and the significance that improved eyesight will have for her. “I have been treated better than in my own home. I’m 65 years old and you can imagine what it means to be able to see well at this age. To have 20-20 vision is to be practically reborn”, she exclaimed. Residents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay have all benefited from the free operations.
Last week, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a law laying the groundwork for the program to reach the residents of El Salvador. Salvadoran doctors will evaluate eye-related illnesses and select patients who will then receive treatment in Venezuela.
During its initial phase, Mission Milagro was based in Cuba where 204,000 Venezuelans in need of care were sent for surguries. Venezuela is now the site of the operations where Cuban and Venezuelan doctors work side by side. Of the over 900,000 operations that have been carried out in Venezuela, 570,902 have been performed by Cubans and another 368,643 has been performed by Venezuelans.
“I am a doctor and a health promoter”, declared Coordinator Villalonga. “For me it’s a great responsibility that I must assume with dignity. Health cannot be played with. And to be able to receive such a great number of our Latin American brothers and sisters is the most amazing thing because it integrates us more as a region”.
Cubans Save More Haitians Infected with Cholera
Source: Cuban News Agency, 7 March 2011.
The work carried out in Haiti by the Cuban Henry Reeve Medical Brigade has represented saving the lives of over 1,100 citizens of that small and impoverished nation, now affected by cholera. The health facilities where the Cuban physicians are working have not reported deaths as a consequence of this disease over the last 43 days, the National Television Newscast (TVC) reported on Friday [4 March 2011].
Over the last six days, the members of the Henry Reeve Brigade have had reports of less than 150 cases of cholera a day, the TVC special correspondent pointed out. He added that cholera cases have decreased in Haiti, although the most recent reports ofthat country’s Health Ministry show that 245,183 persons have suffered from the disease, added the source.
For Cubans, this change of situation implied the return home of the first 150 members of the Brigade, out of the 477 that will gradually return, explained the television report.
In Haiti, the cholera epidemic has caused the death of some 4,620 people and over 245,000 have caught the disease. Over the last two weeks, the number of cases has decreased considerably and a 0.39 mortality rate has been maintained, the lowest since the outbreak of cholera.
Cuba has been offering medical services in Haiti for 11 years now, and it’s presently one of the nations that has helped Haiti the most with health equipment and staff, which has earned it the respect and admiration of both the Haitian authorities and the population.
See also: Haiti: Cholera Death Toll Stands at 4,672 - 10 March 2011.
The work carried out in Haiti by the Cuban Henry Reeve Medical Brigade has represented saving the lives of over 1,100 citizens of that small and impoverished nation, now affected by cholera. The health facilities where the Cuban physicians are working have not reported deaths as a consequence of this disease over the last 43 days, the National Television Newscast (TVC) reported on Friday [4 March 2011].
Over the last six days, the members of the Henry Reeve Brigade have had reports of less than 150 cases of cholera a day, the TVC special correspondent pointed out. He added that cholera cases have decreased in Haiti, although the most recent reports ofthat country’s Health Ministry show that 245,183 persons have suffered from the disease, added the source.For Cubans, this change of situation implied the return home of the first 150 members of the Brigade, out of the 477 that will gradually return, explained the television report.
In Haiti, the cholera epidemic has caused the death of some 4,620 people and over 245,000 have caught the disease. Over the last two weeks, the number of cases has decreased considerably and a 0.39 mortality rate has been maintained, the lowest since the outbreak of cholera.
Cuba has been offering medical services in Haiti for 11 years now, and it’s presently one of the nations that has helped Haiti the most with health equipment and staff, which has earned it the respect and admiration of both the Haitian authorities and the population.
See also: Haiti: Cholera Death Toll Stands at 4,672 - 10 March 2011.
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