Labor parliamentarian Richard Burgon became the tenth British legislator on Monday to formally nominate the Henry Reeve Brigade of Cuban international doctors for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
I am very, very happy and proud to have officially nominated Cuban doctors, nurses and technicians for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of their work and the humanitarianism they have shown in the fight against the coronavirus, and in emergency health situations around the world for the past 15 years, Burgon said on a video posted by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC).
In his letter of recommendation to the Norwegian committee in charge of granting the international prize, the representative to the British Parliament for the English district of Leeds East, highlighted that the Caribbean island has a long history of providing humanitarian assistance to other countries after the triumph of the Revolution of 1959.
In May 1960, shortly after an exodus of doctors after the Cuban Revolution, a medical team was sent to Chile to help in the aftermath of an earthquake, he recalled.
According to Burgon, those guiding principles of health as a human right, the right to peace and life, humanism and solidarity support the monumental efforts of the Henry Reeve Brigade, which, since its foundation in 2005, has saved tens of thousands of lives in countries hit by natural disasters and epidemics such as cholera and Ebola.
The Henry Reeve Brigade has made an unparalleled contribution to global health, which has never deserved so much acknowledgement and praise as at this time of global health emergency, he stressed.
In addition to the ten or so British lawmakers, seven UK scholars made similar requests to the Norwegian committee.
Apart from the formal requests, the CSC made an online petition in favor of acknowledgement for Cuban health workers that has accumulated so far more than 6,700 signatures of support.
According to the rules of the Swedish Academy, nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize can only be made by parliamentarians, scholars, magistrates of international courts, people already awarded, and active or retired members of the committee, and have a deadline on February 1 of each year.
(Taken from Prensa Latina)