The need to globalize solidarity and international cooperation were emphasized yesterday, during the 18th meeting of the Cuba-Russia Intergovernmental Commission for economic-commercial and scientific-technical collaboration, which concludes today, and is headed by co-chairs Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, deputy prime minister of the Republic of Cuba, and Yuri Ivanovich Borisov, vice president of the Russian Federation’s government.

In describing the meeting, Cabrisas noted that the traditionally friendly relation between the two nations was reconfirmed, while Borisov described Cuba as a key and strategic partner for his country, with which relations are based on respect, trust and transparency; aspects that mark the history shared by the two nations.

Discussed were matters of mutual interest in the economic, financial, energy, transportation, agriculture, communications and health arenas, among others. The Cuban Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the need to effectively coordinate practical action to neutralize the effects of selective policies and unilateral measures against our countries.

He also thanked Russia for its historic position against the U.S. blockade and reiterated Cuba’s condemnation of the unjust sanctions Moscow is facing.

The Russian co-chair highlighted the coordinated work of the parties within the framework of the commission and the consensus reached on the main issues of bilateral interaction. Currently, important negotiations are underway regarding industry and military-technical cooperation, and special attention is being paid to the financial aspects of Russian-Cuban trade, he said.

Havana and Moscow maintain collaboration in the railroad, energy, transportation and communications industries, among others, topics that are periodically discussed in the 14 working groups functioning within the framework of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission.

(Taken from Granma)

The accord was signed during the 21st session of the intergovernmental commission in charge of the Cuba-Venezuela Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, chaired by Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz and the Bolivarian Republic’s Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez Gómez, who reviewed the challenges facing collaboration in 2021 and progress made on current projects, marked by an adverse political situation and the COVID-19 epidemic.

A new cooperation project was agreed upon to promote the expansion and use of moringa, thitonia, mulberry and other grasses for animal fodder in Venezuela, which includes the exchange of knowledge and production support in areas of agricultural management and agro-industrial transformation to manufacture animal feed.

Cabrisas Ruiz explained that the approved annual cooperation plan is directed toward improving key sectors such as health – with joint efforts to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and undertake actions for the development and application of Cuban vaccines – and to strengthen links in activities related to energy, transportation, education, culture and sports.

These projects, he emphasized, will serve as a foundation for the elaboration of a 2030 Resistance and Development Plan, based on an alignment of Cuba’s National Economic Development Plan through 2030 and Venezuela’s Plan of the Homeland through 2025.

The Venezuelan Vice President highlighted the two countries’ resistance in the face of the blockade and unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. “Cuba-Venezuela cooperation has been essential to the victorious resistance of our peoples, who will not succumb to extortion or coercion, and will continue their path of victory into the future,” she stated.

The delegations, including several ministers from the two countries, reiterated their determination to advance in the improvement and expansion of cooperation in all spheres of development, to overcome the negative effects of the economic persecution that the United States maintains as a matter of policy meant to asphyxiate the two nations.

(Taken from Granma)

According to Rios, who is a specialist in angiology and vascular surgery, the possibility of benefiting the Venezuelans with one of the flagship medicines of the Cuban biotechnology, the recombinant human epidermal growth factor is a privilege.

In dialogue with Prensa Latina, the technical coordinator of the Good Living for Diabetics Program highlighted that the efficacy in using this drug in patients with a satisfactory response to the treatment reflects the positive impact of the project.

The Cuban collaborator, who favors health preventive and promotional actions, explained the importance of this function to achieve an early diagnosis of injuries and avoid invasive procedures.

Cuban angiologists and vascular surgeons are advising and training colleagues in Venezuela through comprehensive care for people affected with this disease.

With more than 250,000 patients treated since 2008, the Good Living for Diabetics Program has the participation of the Cuban Medical Mission, the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the Immuno-Testing Vaccination Research Center, both from Cuba.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday condemned Western countries’ interference in Russia’s internal affairs and reaffirmed his solidarity with Russian authorities.

The Cuban foreign minister posted his statement on his Twitter account.

Russia denounced the provocation orchestrated by the West, particularly the United States, after supporting protests organized by followers of opposition blogger Alexei Navalni, prosecuted in two court cases, in several cities of the country.

According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the publication by the US Embassy of a list of Russian cities with the route of the demonstrations is an act of interference in the internal affairs of the country.

For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented that an action of open interference like this, if it had been done in Washington, would already be the reason for a great scandal, sanctions against Russia, expulsion of its diplomats and other measures.

US Embassy’s officials should respond with arguments their decision to participate in the provocation against public order in Russia, the spokeswoman said.

According to Moscow media, some 4,000 people staged a rally in that capital, and in some places the number of Western journalists almost exceeded that figure.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)

The purpose of the new agreement is to continue promoting friendly relations between the nations and facilitating the exchange of visits by their citizens.

Moreover, the legal instrument reaffirms the will of the governments of Cuba and China to deepen the bonds of cooperation established in many spheres, reflecting the maturity and mutual confidence that characterize the ties of friendship shared by the two nations and peoples.

The signing ceremony, held at the Republic of Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, was attended by Ministry directors and officials, as well diplomats and staff at the People’s Republic of China’s embassy in the country.

(Taken from Granma)

Among the priorities of this relationship are: culture, economy, health and environment. One of the institutions of greatest prominence in the balance of cooperation is the Kuwait Fund for Arab Development[2], from which the Caribbean island has been able to access soft loans with a payment range of up to 20 years and, in addition, 2 percent interest.

In this way, considerable resources have been invested in the repair or expansion of Cuban aqueduct systems, such as those in Santiago de Cuba and Holguín, allowing for the improvement of hydraulic services that benefit almost 600,000 people. We should also add the funds allocated for the rehabilitation of the aqueducts and sewage system in Havana, under a credit of 75 million dollars [3]

However, the field of diplomatic action is also expanding towards a multilateral vision of international relations, since the two States exchange in forums of great importance in favor of an alternative political position in the world, such as: the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 plus China.

As for the medical field, in 2010, after the opening of the embassy, an agreement was signed that allowed the sending of Cuban doctors to that part of the world; even, the exchanges have been more comprehensive, since in the scientific-medical field, the collaboration and visit of personnel from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Cuba to that country has been patented, as well as the implementation of Cuban medicines such as Heberprot-P, useful to fight diabetic foot ulcers, in Kuwaiti patients.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, 96 Cuban doctors, 198 nurses and 4 specialists from other branches of medicine worked in Kuwait [4]. However, Cuba and Kuwait have continued to potentially strengthen collaborative links. In the context of the current coronavirus pandemic, both nations endorsed a new agreement directed toward the health sector [5].

By early June 2020, nearly 300 additional health sector workers had arrived in the Arab State, in a team comprised of doctors of various specialties and nurses.

The recognition and appreciation for the gesture came from the high political officials: Ministers of Health and Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, who, together with the Cuban Ambassador in that country, were present at the welcome ceremony.

This Memorandum of Understanding will allow the Cubans to stay in the nation for about a semester and mainly in the intensive care of the patients in worse condition. When this brigade arrived, the Arab country already counted more than 30,650 infected and more than 450 deaths; most of the cases come from undocumented workers, specifically from Egypt, Bangladesh and India.

Cuba and Qatar: closeness despite distances

The State of Qatar is currently one of the Arab countries with the greatest ties to Cuba. Political-diplomatic relations between both peninsular states were established in December 1989. An important event in these relations was the official visit to that country by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro in May 2001, which was also reciprocated with visits by high-ranking Qatari leaders to Cuba. In all these years, both parties have defended the contact in diverse branches: trade, finance, culture, sports, health, air and sea transport.

However, the links in the area of health have been the most significant and broadest; this is demonstrated by the construction and inauguration in 2012 of the Cuban Hospital in Dukhan[1]. Some 500 Cuban collaborators work in this center, with high standards of quality in services (more than 25 specialties) that are destined not only to the residents of the territory, but also to immigrants, expatriates, diplomats, etc.

It is a facility that has some 75 beds and seven operating rooms and most of its patients come from the western region of the country. However, work continues on the extension of departments and new services such as: the opening of night clinics, laser eye surgery, services for dental prosthesis, orthopedics and rehabilitation.

In 2016, the hospital began performing bariatric surgery (for body weight loss); by 2017 it had performed some 176.
In 2008 and 2018, several agreements were signed between the Hamad Medical Corporation and the Cuban Medical Services to develop joint research in scientific matters.

At the same time, the Qatari would be beneficiaries of Cuban products such as Heberprot-P. According to statistical data[3] on the levels of care at the Cuban hospital in Dukhan, it can be stated that there has been a substantial increase in medical consultations and in the number of patients seeking specialized medical treatment here. For example, in 2017 the number of outpatients reached over 74,300, while admissions reached over 4,500. Meanwhile, surgical care grew from over 250 in 2012 to some 3,100 in 2017.

In relation to Covid-19, The Cuban Hospital was designated as one of the centers in charge of critical treatments for the most complicated cases in the face of the pandemic, along with other important centers such as the Communicable Disease Centre, the Mesaieed Hospital, as well as Ras Laffan Hospital.

At the same time, it is the medical building dedicated to the intensive care of pregnant women, newborns with positive diagnosis[5] and also, destined to emergency operations. Even cultural differences have not marked distance in this collaboration.

There is a program [6] that prioritizes translation services from Spanish and Arabic in line with a greater understanding between patients (mostly Arabs) and Cuban doctors. It is quantified an approximate figure of 2 thousand patients benefited with this initiative, which is fundamental for the mutual doctor-patient understanding.

The then Cuban Ambassador in Qatar, Eumelio Caballero Rodríguez, highlighted in 2019 that

“this hospital, which constitutes the jewel of the collaboration between both countries, has become a medical center of reference in the whole Gulf region, receiving several recognitions from important international institutions for the excellence of its care” [7].
Havana – Riyadh: agreements and bilateral exchanges

The political-diplomatic relations between both countries were officially patented in April 2011[1] with the opening of the embassy in Havana. As a result of this fact, there has been a deepening of bilateral cooperation in various sectors. All this has been possible thanks to the aid endorsed by the Saudi Development Fund, which has offered financial support to the island.

Among the lines with the greatest Saudi investment in Cuba, the hydraulic sector stands out, whose system of aqueducts and sewers, specifically in Havana and Cárdenas (Matanzas), were repaired with an investment of some 32 million dollars.[2] Likewise, another 40 million[3] were destined for the same area, in the province of Camagüey.

Important credits have also been offered for restoration projects in the Historical Center of Old Havana[4]. In cultural matters, bilateral ties have been manifested in events such as the International Book Fair of Havana, where important works of Saudi nationality have been presented. Likewise, a donation was made to Cuba of Arabic language laboratories (with Cuban graduated personnel), as well as the financing for the construction of a mosque in the Havana capital.

As for the health sector, the collaboration is mutual, since Saudi scientists and doctors have also visited Cuba in order to establish a greater connection with Cuban scientific results.

Likewise, in the field of biotechnology, the use of the Cuban medicine Heberprot-P has been commercialized in order to safeguard the life of diabetic patients. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was already the implementation of bilateral agreements in the field of health, as was the case of the Executive Cooperation Program signed by the Ministers of Health of both countries [5].

The number of Cuban collaborators in Saudi Arabia is in the order of 220 (2019), including doctors, nurses and other specialists [6] As can be seen, Cuba’s political-diplomatic links with the countries of the North African and Middle Eastern sub-regions have been strengthened in recent years. Bilateral cooperation in the area of health is one of its most significant aspects, but so is the continuation of medical training in Cuba for students, mostly from the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Palestine.

1] Relations between Cuba and Saudi Arabia are special. March 14, 2017. Available at:http://www.opciones.cu/internacionales/2017-03-14/son-especiales-las-relaciones-entre-cuba-y-arabia-saudita/
2] Ibid.
3] Ibid.
4] Saudi Arabia and Cuba continue pledge to increase trade cooperation and strengthen political ties. January 22, 2019. Available at: https://foreignpolicynews.org/2019/01/22/saudi-arabia-and-cuba-continue-pledge-to-increase-trade-cooperation-and-strengthen-political-ties/
5] Saudi Arabia and Cuba continue pledge to increase trade cooperation and strengthen political ties.
6] Ibid.
[1] Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba. Disponible en:http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/es/articulo/cuba-y-qatar-amistad-mas-alla-del-tiempo-y-las-distancias
[2] Ídem.
[3] El hospital cubano ve un fuerte aumento en las visitas de los pacientes. 20 de febrero de 2018. Disponible en:https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/20/02/2018/Cuban-Hospital-sees-sharp-rise-in-patient-visits
[4] Ídem
[5] Hospital cubano designado para casos de maternidad con COVID 19. 7 de junio de 2020. Disponible en: https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/07/06/2020/Cuban-Hospital-designated-for-maternity-cases-with-COVID-19
Más de 2.000 pacientes se benefician de los servicios de idiomas cada mes en el hospital cubano. 25 de agosto de 2019. Disponible en:https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/25/08/2019/Over-2,000-patients-benefit-from-language-services-every-month-at-Cuban-Hospital
[7] Ídem.

[1] Admirable colaboración entre Kuwait y Cuba. 6 de marzo de 2019. Disponible en: http://www.opciones.cu/internacionales/2019-03-06/admirable-colaboracion-entre-kuwait-y-cuba/

[2] Ídem

[3] Ídem

4] Enfrentan en Kuwait Covid 19 con apoyo de brigada médica cubana. Disponible en: _COPY4��dica-cubana

El contingente médico cubano de la Brigada Henry Reeve llega a Kuwait. Disponible en: http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/en/articulo/cuban-medical-contingent-henry-reeve-brigade-arrives-kuwait.

Jose Martí

The Latin American and Caribbean region continues to be the most unequal region in the world in terms of income distribution among its population, with an average Gini index of 0.465 in 2018. The SARS Cov-2 virus does not take into account the conditions social to infect a person. However, belonging to a social status does make you more vulnerable to acquiring it and developing the disease. The access and quality of health systems, working conditions, abandonment of rural areas, access to safe water, educational levels, overcrowding in poor neighborhoods or access to technology, increase the level of exposure contagion and limitations to protect themselves.

According to OXFAM “measures as basic as washing hands or avoiding physical contact are difficult for the 21% of the Latin American urban population who live in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing. 81% of the region’s population is urban. In marginal neighborhoods, basic services are a luxury, many homes do not even have access to water within them. In 2018, 13.5% of Latin American households did not have access to water sources at home, and in rural areas this percentage increased to 25%. Overcrowding is inevitable in these settlements with more than 3 people per bedroom ”. [one]

The numbers speak for themselves. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 20% of the population concentrates 83% of the wealth. The number of billionaires in the region has increased from 27 to 104 since 2000. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the fortune of the 73 billionaires in Latin America increased by 48.2 billion dollars. [2] In contrast, extreme poverty is increasing. In 2019, 66 million people, that is, 10.7% of the population lived in extreme poverty. More than half of its workers (53.1%) were employed in the informal sector and poverty and inequality had the face of a woman, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

“The region is also marked by racial, ethnic and territorial inequalities and those related to the different stages of the life cycle, which means that various population groups continue to be left behind,” warned Alicia Bárcena. [3] The senior United Nations official warned that Latin America and the Caribbean is currently the global focus of the COVID-19 pandemic, with dramatic repercussions not only in terms of health, but also because it represents a great setback in terms of regarding the eradication of poverty.

According to the estimates indicated by ECLAC, the effects of the pandemic will generate the largest recession that the region has suffered since 1914 and 1930, with a projected growth of -5.3%, a significant deterioration in labor indicators in 2020 that would generate almost 12 million more unemployed in the region and an increase of almost 28.7 million more poor than in 2019, for a total of 214.7 million people living in poverty in the Latin American region (34.7% of the total population [4] . Furthermore, it is foreseeable that extreme poverty will increase by 2.6 percentage points (15.9 million more people), affecting a total of 83.4 million people who are also at risk of falling into a food crisis. [5]

When the first case of the pandemic was reported in Brazil, on February 26, 2020, a tsunami of deaths began in the region. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to the 54 countries and territories of the Americas region. The epicenter of the pandemic has moved to the region of the Americas, in which, as of August 3, 2020, 9,764,672 confirmed cases ( 111,200) had been reported, 54.06% of the total cases reported in the world, with 365 688 deaths ( 2089) for a fatality of 3.74% (-0.01) [6] . In general, there is an increasing trend in incidence and deaths in the region. Five countries (Brazil, the United States of America, Chile, Mexico and Peru) are among the ten with the highest number of confirmed cases and / or deaths worldwide.[7]

The health crisis exposed the weaknesses of the region’s public health systems. Unfortunately, in Latin America and the Caribbean health systems, public, universal and of quality are non-existent. Public investment in health averages 2.2% of GDP, roughly half of what the WHO recommends. Governments invest an average of $ 600 per capita each year in ensuring the health of the Latin American population, 21% of what OECD countries invest. There are an average of 23 hospital beds and 18 doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants, approximately half the average in OECD countries. This is the reason why the underserved public hospitals collapsed and contagion levels spread even further.

Cuba, in the Latin American and Caribbean region, has set a precedent in terms of social development. Photo: Archive.

Cuba, in the Latin American and Caribbean region, has set a precedent in terms of social development. In the rest of the continent, the forced application of neoliberalism in the final decades of the last century, caused the deepening of the political crises that caused the illegitimacy and ungovernability of the constitutional authorities and a wide questioning of the postulates of democratic representativeness in its “principles intermediaries ”. In some countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia, during the nineties and early twenty-first century, a reconfiguration of socio-political structures occurred that allowed the inclusion and visibility of historically marginalized social classes.

In the last three years this reality has radically changed and an ultra-neoliberal wave invades most of the region, with governments eager to consolidate an economic model that destroys everything achieved in the decade won by Latin American progressivism.
Cooperation of Cuba with Latin America in the public health sector

Cuban doctors in Brazil. Photo: Araquem Alcántara

International organizations such as the WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) or the UN itself recognize the largest of the Antilles as the only Latin American country with one of the best health systems in the world.

Since the beginning of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the Cuban public health model also became paradigmatic due to its outstanding component of international cooperation. The first Cuban medical aid was carried out in 1960. In that year Chile had suffered an earthquake and Cuban doctors arrived there to treat the victims. The decision was made known by the Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro, at the opening ceremony of the Faculty of Basic and Pre-clinical Sciences “Victoria de Girón”.

This medical aid and in other spheres continued in a sustained way; despite the fact that on February 3, 1962, the Law of Commerce with the Enemy was put into practice, which proclaimed an embargo on trade between the United States and Cuba. Since then, a succession of laws has intensified this scenario and the mark of the economic and commercial siege has been present in all spheres of Cuban life, especially in medical collaboration. For the Latin American case, it is very significant because it limits commercial and financial activity in the area closest to the island.

Hurricanes Mitch and George, in 1998, in Central America and the Caribbean, caused unprecedented human and material losses in the region, and at the request of various governments for humanitarian aid, Cuba provided its support and collaboration in the reconstruction of these countries. More than 2,000 professionals traveled to Central America to collaborate for free.

In December 1998 the first Medical Brigade was transferred to Haiti. From this moment on, the idea was conceived, by President Fidel Castro, in December 1998, of creating the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). On February 27, 1999, the first 1,933 students arrived with free scholarships from 18 countries. The conception of this school was to train professionals who are willing to return to their communities of origin to provide primary health care. The Comprehensive Health Plan began to be executed, structured to respond to the needs of the Central American region, which was subsequently extended to the entire world. As part of this strategy, ELAM would train professionals from these countries.

By 1999, Cuba had 363,000 health professionals trained and working in the national health system. Between 1963 and 2001, more than 156,280 of these professionals had collaborated in more than 140 countries; 75% of all UN countries; of them, 24 countries of the Latin American region. As of the year 2000, important steps were taken that consolidated and diversified the effectiveness of Cuban medical collaboration, mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is worth highlighting among them the impulse and development of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, which led to the appearance of the Special Programs modality, such as Barrio Adentro, in 2003.

The creation of ALBA-TCP (2004) had a significant importance in the history of Cuban medical cooperation. This integration mechanism was founded in 2004, but its origin dates back to 2001 when, at the III Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Association of Caribbean States, then-President Hugo Chávez proposed the creation of an integration project and cooperation that would show the other governments of the region the real possibility of creating an alternative mechanism to the logics imposed by the relations of domination that historically subordinated Latin America and the political systems of its Nation-States to the conditioning of the centers of power, especially the United States.

From the very beginning of the first period, the ALBA-TCP promoted the norms of Postliberal Regionalism, and its three returns, the Returns of the State, the Return of the Social Agenda and the Return of the Development Agenda. In the words of the Spanish academic José Antonio Sanahuja, these three returns have a historical explanation, since “the crisis of regional integration and in the model of Open Regionalism coincides with a new wave of proposals that point to a redefinition of regionalism and integration.” [8]

With the III Summit, Bolivia’s participation as a member country of the organization began. At that meeting, the signing of the Commercial Treaty of the Peoples (TCP) was also established, and the foundations of the joint medical cooperation of Cuba and Venezuela with the new member were defined . With the summits of 2007, the expansion stage of the organization began with the entry of Nicaragua under the newly elected Sandinista government. This led to the expansion of Petro Caribe’s association capacities with the Central American economies.

Cuban doctors with Venezuelan patients, Venezuela 2005. Photo Roberto Chile.

In fact, the document of Accession of Nicaragua as a new member was useful to reaffirm the conception of the principles of South-South cooperation that would identify the organization in its strategic approaches. In this sense, it was argued that overcoming the neoliberal model and its effects in the region implied a strategic alliance between the states and peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, based on the principles of solidarity, cooperation, complementation and mutual aid, and based on the rescue and valuation of our identity, participatory democracy and economic development with equity [9] .

During 2008 and 2009, new members joined the organization, such as Dominica and Honduras in 2008, Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda in 2009. It was not only expanded into the Caribbean, which meant a direct achievement of the cooperation policies linked to Petro Caribe, ALBA Alimentos, and Health Missions, but also incorporated South American States that had previously maintained indirect support for this initiative.

The ALBA-TCP allowed the development of both the policies applied by the governments to improve the quality of life of their societies, as well as the implementation of multilateral strategies, especially related to the ALBA-TCP, which allowed the articulation of governmental capacities. with the purpose of stimulating international cooperation.

The concept of complementarity acquired relevance in this mechanism to the extent that it allowed integration on the basis of interdependence, but not on power relations. This issue is evidenced above all in four fundamental axes: the one referred to educational programs, health programs, economic and commercial exchanges and energy agreements.

Regarding the programs related to ALBA-Health, it is important to note that this is one of the main achievements of ALBA-TCP as a multilateral mechanism. One of the added values ​​has been the experience of Cuba, which shows a highly professional health system with a substantial development in primary care and disease prevention mechanisms, as well as community medicine. With this same logic, the organization had increased the social missions of the health function, such as the Barrio Adentro I and II Mission, in the case of Venezuela, and the Miracle Mission, carried out in the ALBA-TCP countries, but also in other areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically in countries outside this hemisphere.

Another of the processes incorporated was the training of new professionals with the implementation of the Latin American School of Medicine, initially based in Cuba, but later extended in its infrastructure to Venezuela.

Venezuelan girl benefited by the Miracle Mission. Photo Roberto Chile.

According to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in its report on the Health Situation in the Americas. Basic Indicators 2013 , in the comparison between the periods 2000-2004 and 2005-2009, a reduction is observed in the indicators of deaths related to treatable causes. In this sense, the ALBA-TCP countries showed favorable balances, however, their progress corresponded to the trend of other nations in the region that are not members of the organization.

This may be due to factors of higher social spending related to health and a more welfare focus of the State. Nicaragua presented a slightly negative balance, while Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Cuba, showed favorable projections. Something similar happened with island states like Antigua and Barbuda, where there was a positive evolution of health programs. [10]

With regard to the coverage and immunization indicators, it was perceptible that the results were disparate in some cases such as Venezuela, where it had been possible to increase human resources. However, this was not yet effectively translated into immunization mechanisms among minors. At the same time, Nicaragua had fewer human resources; however, social and health prevention mechanisms such as immunization of diseases to the child population were effective. Regarding the Caribbean population, both Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines showed favorable balances in these lines. Something similar happened with Antigua and Barbuda. [eleven]

Even with the existing structural flaws, the organization shows a logic of internal cooperation that encourages an increase in health indicators. In this sense, the social and medical missions have led to a collective increase in life expectancy, placing the average of the ALBA-TCP countries at 73 years.

The statistical data provided by the official website of the organization shows a general decrease in infant mortality. In Bolivia, where mortality of this type was 66% at the beginning of 2000, it has achieved a reduction of close to 15%, although the rate remains at a considerable figure. Nicaragua has also achieved a reduction of 15% within this indicator, Ecuador 10 percent, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 10%, Cuba 5%, Venezuela 8% and Antigua and Barbuda 6%. Other health strategies such as the Miracle Mission led to a notable increase in the number of visually impaired people who were treated. [12]

The work of ALBA-TCP as a regional integration mechanism has been decisive for the promotion of Cuban medical cooperation in the American continent. Its principles of cooperation between the peoples, as an alternative that strengthens them and makes them sovereign, capable of growing from complementarity, has not been well seen by the regional right and the United States, who have led a neoliberal offensive with new methods to do the progressive governments of the region fall one by one and thus weaken ALBA.

The constant economic sanctions against Venezuela have undoubtedly weakened the organization’s strongest economic pillar, seriously affecting the financing of health missions and programs. At the same time, the right-wing movement of progressive governments has become an adverse scenario for the development of Cuban medical collaboration, even being forcibly interrupted in some countries of the region.
Evolution of Cuban medical collaboration in Ecuador

Cuban medical brigade in Ecuador. Photo: Dr. Enmanuel Vigil

The history of Cuban medical collaboration in Ecuador dates back 37 years (1992-2019). Cuba has provided assistance in emergency situations and disasters in Ecuador, for example, in 1986 due to heavy rains; in 2001 due to the dengue epidemic; in April 2016: care for the victims of an earthquake.

In June 2006, a cooperation agreement was signed for the start of “Operation Miracle”, with the participation of 153 collaborators, distributed in 3 hospitals. Through this program, 168,543 surgeries were carried out, of them 4,609 for cataracts and 118,575 for pterygium. All these operations were performed free of charge and in case more delicate operations were required, the patients were transferred to Cuba, free of charge as well.

In January 2009, on the occasion of the official visit of then President Rafael Correa Delgado to Cuba, the Framework Agreement for Cooperation in health matters was signed between the two governments. On June 11 of the same year, the Inter-Institutional Cooperation Agreement was signed between the then Ecuadorian Vice President Lenín Moreno Garcés and the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba, to carry out the psycho-social, pedagogical and clinical genetic study of people with disabilities. known as the Solidarity Mission “Manuela Espejo”.

During this program, 825,576 people were treated, of whom 35,257 were specialized neurophysiology and otorhinolaryngology consultations. 21 62 patients underwent clinical genetics studies, care that was carried out for the first time in the country.

In 2013, the contract was signed with the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS), through which 293 Cuban doctors from different specialties provided medical assistance in 52 units of this Institute.

From the beginning of the medical collaboration in this country until November 2019, a total of 3,565 Cuban health professionals provided their services in Ecuador. 6,749,666 medical consultations were carried out, 212,360 surgical interventions, 3,548 deliveries were attended and 100,084 doses of vaccination were applied. It is worth noting that Cuban professionals were in the poorest areas of the country, including, in an unprecedented way, medical care for indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. 2 093 young Ecuadorians graduated as health professionals in Cuba.

Cuban doctors in Ecuador. Photo: Enmanuel Vigil / Facebook.

Despite the results of the work of the Cuban Medical Brigade in 2018 in the country, the government of President Lenin Moreno terminated the Collaboration Agreement in November 2019. That same month, Cuba and Ecuador signed the Act that terminated 6 Specific scientific cooperation and technical assistance agreements, existing between the Ministries of Health of both countries since 2009. According to the signed minutes, the Ecuadorian authorities alleged economic reasons for terminating and not renewing these agreements. In accordance with the signed minutes, both parties recognized the results achieved in compliance with the aforementioned Agreements in the fields of epidemiology, transplantology, physiatry and rehabilitation, imaging and radiology, ophthalmology and angiology.

Cuba expressed the interest that the Ecuadorian Health authorities guarantee the required follow-up to the patients cared for by the Cuban Medical Mission. The 382 Cuban collaborators, who had provided their services in 23 of the 24 provinces, withdrew from the country with outstanding results in 2018: [1]

1,189,840 patients seen by Cuban specialists.
52,351 received rehabilitation.
17,992 surgeries, 10,466 ophthalmic and 5 30 of them for cataracts, which returned or improved vision in people with preventable blindness.
60 transplants performed for a cumulative of 211, with 94 percent survival five years after transplants (173 adults and 38 pediatric).
More than 231,000 physiatry consultations, 47,438 imaging, 11 74 angiology, and 49,446 ophthalmology performed as part of the agreement with the Ministry of Public Health and the 49,446 cases seen under the agreement with the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security .
13 117 consultations and 4 236 hemodialysis reported in compliance with the Nipse agreement.
81 673 consultations and 70 063 field work, under the teaching agreement with the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil.

Notwithstanding the termination of the Agreement, the Declaration of the Cuban Foreign Ministry of December 5, 2019 reaffirmed Cuba’s willingness to collaborate: “The Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cuba ratifies the will to continue providing collaboration in this brother people , which ceases at this time as a result of a decision of the Ecuadorian government. The peoples of Our America and the rest of the world know that they can always count on the humanistic and supportive vocation of Cuban professionals. [two]

The United States’ persecution against Cuban medical cooperation began in Latin America and forced the cessation of cooperation programs in Brazil, Ecuador, and Bolivia. This policy has been implemented in the context of the administration of Donald Trump and breaks with the conversations initiated between Cuba and the administration of its predecessor Barak Obama. The governments of Barak Obama and Raúl Castro in December 2014 promoted the beginning of the normalization process between Cuba and the United States.

Added to the persecution initiated by the republican administration is the action combined with the threat of sanctions against Cuban leaders and pressure against recipient states to dispense with it. This campaign is led from the White House National Security Council, Florida Republican Congressmen and the State Department.

This scenario has led to accuse the island of practicing “modern slavery” and “human trafficking” through the use of health personnel who work in other countries ” [3] . The OAS participates in this persecution of health collaborators, accusing Cuba of “alleged crimes against humanity.” President Trump and the State Department, in their 2019 Report on Human Trafficking, denigrated Cuba’s international medical cooperation and, a month later, imposed visa-restricting sanctions on Cuban officials linked to medical missions.

The Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State have directed efforts in all the governments of the region and in May 2019, the United States Embassy in Ecuador requested detailed information on the agreements and services of Cuban aid workers. Five months later, the Ecuadorian government terminated them, immediately despite their imminent expiration, citing economic reasons.

In October 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador requested to know the purpose of the trip to that country of Cuban citizens carrying diplomatic and official passports. Later, the Minister of Government declared that several Cubans, associated with the cooperation agreements, participated in the protests that the Ecuadorian people were leading against the application of neoliberal measures . The Declaration of the Foreign Ministry of Cuba confirms that: as has been proven, no Cuban was a participant or organizer of these massive popular demonstrations and not a single official or diplomatic passport was misused. The manipulators have not been able to present a single piece of evidence.
Ecuador and COVID-19

A row outside a pharmacy in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo: Santiago Arcos / Reuters.

The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic reached Ecuador in the midst of an unfavorable economic and social situation for the vast majority , as a consequence of the measures implemented by the government of Lenin Moreno, who is the protagonist of one of the most political crises complexes in the country.

The Government of Ecuador reported on July 10, 2020, 783 new cases of covid-19. According to the report issued by the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE) in Ecuador, 65,801 are reported infected by the virus and 65,018 patients with the disease. In addition, 8,272 deaths in the context of the pandemic. 4,983 deaths due to the disease and another 3,289 due to suspicion; 51 more deaths than on July 9. [one]

Unfortunately, Ecuador has the highest death rate in the world caused by this pandemic, according to an analysis by the British newspaper Financial Times [2] . The outlet calculated how many excess deaths (above the historical average) have been registered in different countries, so far in 2020, and compared those figures with their populations. Ecuador appears first in the ranking. According to this analysis, Ecuador registered 21,500 excess deaths until June 17. This means a rate of more than 1,000 excess deaths per million inhabitants.

In an analysis carried out by the newspaper EL UNIVERSO on the deaths registered in the Civil Registry in statistics that include deaths not only from COVID-19, but from all kinds of causes; found that between March 1 and June 15 of this year, 20,373 deaths were registered above the average of the previous two years. The newspaper clarifies that this figure may increase, since many deaths are registered even weeks late. [3]

A man carries a cardboard coffin outside a cemetery in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 7, 2020. Photo: Reuters.

The emergency of the pandemic, managed erratically by the government, has seriously compromised its ability to safeguard the lives of its citizens, giving the impression that it leaves them defenseless in the face of the health crisis. In unison, an acute political crisis occurs in the country, linked to measures taken by the Executive and the Legislature with catastrophic consequences for the labor rights of workers and for the people, such as the Humanitarian Emergency Law , which is highly questioned from the social and the opposition.

In the almost three months of the presidential decree of a state of emergency, which streamlines public procurement by relaxing prior controls, hundreds of irregularities have been uncovered in the purchase of medical materials such as masks, COVID-19 tests or transport bags corpses ; which offers indications of a structural corruption that splashes from former president Abdalá Bucaram, to assembly members of the ruling party.

According to Reuters, in a survey carried out in 10 Latin American countries, the management of President Lenín Moreno’s health crisis has only 14.7% support. [4] 64.1% of Ecuadorians state that their image of the Moreno government worsened since the pandemic began. Moreno is the worst evaluated president among ten heads of state in Latin America.

Seven out of ten Ecuadorians (71.1%) rate it badly or very badly, one in ten does not know (9.8%) and only two out of ten (19.1%) evaluate it positively, according to the Latin American monitor carried out by the company TrespuntoZero Investigación Latam. [5] The measurement also makes it clear that people do not trust the public health system. Eight out of ten Ecuadorians consider that Ecuador is worse or equally ill prepared than the other nations in the region to control and prevent the coronavirus . Eight out of ten express little or no confidence in the ability of the health system to face the pandemic.

For the president of the Ecuadorian Medical Federation, Santiago Carrasco, this mistrust is the result of allegations of corruption that have been made public. “Corruption is involved in the purchase of medicines, in the acquisition of equipment. Unfortunately, the people who have to manage health policies are not prepared, they are people without expertise, people without knowledge ”. [6] According to the TrespuntoZero consultancy , 90.7 of those surveyed consider that the government is being corrupt; only 9.3% consider that it is not. As of July 10, the course of the epidemic shows signs that worse moments can be expected.

On June 11 of the same year, the Inter-institutional Cooperation Agreement was signed by then Ecuadorian Vice President Lenín Moreno Garcés and the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba, for the realization of a psycho-social, pedagogical, and clinical genetic study of people with disabilities, known as the Manuela Espejo Solidarity Mission. Through this program, 825,576 persons were assisted, of whom 35,257 were provided neurophysiology or otolaryngology consultations. Some 21,062 patients underwent clinical genetics studies.

In 2013, a contract was signed with the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) through which 293 Cuban doctors of different specialties provided medical assistance in 52 of this Institute’s units.

Cuba has provided assistance in emergencies and disasters in Ecuador: in 1986 due to heavy rains, in 2001 due to a dengue epidemic, and to assist victims of the earthquake that occurred on April 16, 2016.

Since the beginning of Cuba’s medical collaboration in this country to date, a total of 3,565 health professionals have provided their services in Ecuador. Some 6,749,666 medical consultations have been provided, 212,360 surgical interventions, 3,548 births assisted, and 100,084 vaccinations administered.

At all times, Cuban health professionals have faithfully performed the role entrusted to them by Ecuador’s health system, in strict compliance with the signed agreements stipulations.

Recent campaigns by the U.S. government to discredit and sabotage the international cooperation that Cuba provides in the field of health in dozens of countries, cannot obscure this data, that demonstrate the altruistic spirit, effort, and solidarity of Cuban collaborators.

Currently, the medical brigade in Ecuador includes 382 professionals, present in 23 of the country’s 24 provinces.

Cuban collaborators will return to the homeland, having made a meritorious contribution to the noble effort to ensure medical attention to the Ecuadorian people, in accordance with the principle of universal health coverage promoted by the World Health Organization. Cuban professionals provided access to specialties which were previously of limited availability within the Ecuadorian health system, as more than 400,000 professionals in this sector have voluntarily done in 164 countries, since 1963.

The Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cuba reaffirms the desire to continue providing collaboration for this sister people, which ceases at this time as a result of a decision by the Ecuadorian government.

The peoples of Our America and the rest of the world know they can always count on the humanist and solidarity vocation of Cuban professionals.

(Ministry of Public Health)

“More than 35,000 professionals from 136 countries have been trained in our universities, and 8,478 from 121 nations are currently studying. The positive impact on the lives of millions of people in tens of thousands of communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean is unquestionable,” Portal stressed.

The Minister emphasized that these achievements have been possible despite the unjust and cruel economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. government for almost 60 years, which is currently intensifying and constitutes the main obstacle to the country’s development. .

Despite this, he said, “Cuba reiterates its commitment to share its experiences in the development of primary health care, making available to the World Health Organization and its member states, cooperation programs, medical universities for the training of professionals and technicians, the products of the medical-pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry, as a way of contributing to universal health coverage for all.”

(Granma)

The welcoming ceremony included both officers paying tribute to Antonio Maceo and Francisco Gómez Toro at the Cacahual Mausoleum, a site that recalls Cuba’s independence struggle, and highlights the examples of its heroes as valuable weapons in the deconstruction of the ideological lies that imperialist forces launch against the peoples of the world.

López Miera stressed that many Chinese fought alongside Maceo, who left their mark due to their combative self-sacrifice and revolutionary convictions. According to an old adage from the Cuban independence wars, “There was never a Chinese man who was a traitor or a coward.”

Miao Hua expressed his gratitude for the welcome received, as well as the explanations about the history of Cuba’s independence struggles, and noted that the example of its heroes has for decades fueled the morale of the Chinese Red Army. “We are eager to work together in the political sphere and learn from your experiences regarding historical work,” he said.

The People’s Republic of China and Cuba maintain broad political and economic relations, rooted in the traditions of struggle of both nations, and in the victories achieved by their peoples, offering a lasting legacy for the new generations.

(Granma)