The arguments are the same as those used in other countries: quotes from Oppenheimer, accusations of slavery, questioning of the doctors’ medical qualifications – all preposterous, to say the least, in terms of statistics, scientific achievements, level of care provided… not to mention the many Peruvians who have studied medicine in Cuba – plus unfounded assertions that the collaborators are coming to spy or train terrorists. The similarity of the attacks is evidently due to a script that is also repeated daily by the U.S. government´s Voice of America radio and TV, and its sub-product “TV Martí” (which outrages Cubans for improperly using the name of our national hero).

Also repeated is the insistence that these collaborators are not needed, since there are plenty of well-prepared doctors in Peru. The latter is certainly true. (I once visited the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana with a group of Peruvian journalists, and the first thing the dean told us was that the Peruvian students were the best.) The current problem is that there are not enough of them and the Medical Association has repeatedly requested the hiring of more doctors, especially since a third of those in public health have been infected with the new coronavirus, or are prevented from working as members of at-risk groups. And needed are not recent graduates, but experienced professionals, no matter where they are from.

This is the first reason the presence of Cuban doctors is desirable. They have decades of experience – the first brigade worked in Algiers in 1963 – in situations of epidemics and other disasters in many countries, with such success and recognition that they have recently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The detractors, obviously motivated by ideological reasons, inappropriate in times of a serious health emergency such as Peru is experiencing, fail to mention that 26 brigades with a total of 2,500 Cuban collaborators from the Henry Reeve contingent, specialized in disaster situations, are currently fighting COVID-19 in some 30 countries around the world, with governments of different persuasions, and in all cases, their work has been praised.

These brigades joined 28,000 other collaborators already working in 59 countries when the pandemic hit. Dozens of other countries have since requested their presence.

The naysayers falsely claim that Cuban doctors were expelled from Italy, where Lombardy honored them, grateful for their magnificent work in the province with the highest number of infections in the country. The Italian Minister of Public Administration, Fabiona Dadone, described their work as an example of collaboration and solidarity.

In Africa, Cuban doctors did not hesitate to risk their lives to battle Ebola, at the request of then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Former U.S. President Barack Obama supported the operation and praised the performance of the brigade.

Another favorite topic raised by opponents of Cuban solidarity is the withdrawal of the our doctors from Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador, countries where right wing governments, allied with the United States, ended cooperation agreements for purely political reasons. Not even former conservative President Temer dared to end our doctors’ presence across Brazil, and Cuba respected that decision, despite the differences. It was extremist Bolsonaro who ordered their departure.

Officials from the U.S. embassy watched from a car as the Cuban cooperation clinic in La Paz was attacked, after the coup against Evo Morales.

Detractors have called our collaborators victims and slaves – professionals who, trained in humanism and solidarity, consider it normal that the state should allocate part of the economic compensation received to the maintenance of our country’s health system, facing a blockade that makes access to needed equipment and medicines more expensive, if not impossible to acquire.

And those who speak of slavery never say a word about so-called outsourcing of services, a modality in which the employer keeps, and profits from, most of what the contracting party pays for each worker.

The haters fail to mention how it was for the Peruvian people who half a century ago counted on this solidarity, when the first Cuban brigade arrived to assist those affected by the earthquake of May 31, 1970, who also built and left as a legacy five hospitals in several locations.

Nor do they care to be reminded that, in the 1990s, a team of Cuban specialists came to Peru to provide advice during the cholera epidemic, and it does not occur to them to ask what the people of Pisco think of Cuban doctors and nurses’ work after the 2007 earthquake. They left a fully equipped field hospital as a donation.

The memories are fresh in Piura, where Cuban brigades arrived in 2017 to assist the population impacted by floods and diseases that spread rapidly as a result of the standing water and extreme heat.

It is no wonder that the announced cooperation agreement in Peru originated as a result of requests from more than half of regional governments, who know well the island’s prestige in the field of medicine.

Finally, a few lines on the absurd accusation that the Cuban government sends medical missions abroad and leaves its own people unprotected against the coronavirus. Readers may simply take a look at the figures to draw conclusions about Cuba’s efforts to confront the pandemic at home. The reasons our help is requested will be obvious, and our detractors left without words.

(Source: Granma)

“Unfortunately, the unilateralism of the United States undermines the promotion and protection of human rights of everyone on the planet,” stated Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on Tuesday in Geneva. Speaking during the High Level Segment of the 43rd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council, he added that neoliberal policies imposed by the northern nation violate economic, social and cultural rights and prevent other nations from exercising their right to development.

Among several examples of coercive actions, the Cuban Foreign Minister emphasized that the interests of all countries are damaged if they remained inert in the face of U. S. threats to crush the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, destabilize Nicaragua, and destroy other nations.

He stressed that the unconventional wars waged by the United States and its violations of international law systematically violate the rights to peace and self-determination.

“Their unwillingness to confront climate change poses an existential challenge to the human species. The political manipulation and double standards of the U.S. impede genuine international cooperation on human rights,” he added.

He insisted that the tightening of the U.S. blockade of Cuba represents an act of genocide, according to the 1948 Convention, “a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of our people.”

Rodriguez further stated, “The use of non-conventional measures to prevent the arrival of fuel to our country has damaged every aspect of the daily lives of Cuban men and women, public transportation, education, health and food. The full application of the Helms-Burton Act deepens the extraterritorial impact of the blockade.”

He explained that the U.S. government has placed extreme limitations on travel and air connections between the two countries, which affect Cuban families, residents in other nations, and the right to travel of the country’s own citizens.

The Foreign Minister referred to attacks on Cuba’s international medical cooperation and how U.S. hostility has threatened the health of millions of human beings who benefit from these programs around the world.

With the suspension of Cuban medical cooperation to several countries in our region alone, medical care for 67 million people has been seriously affected. The international community recognizes the professionalism and altruism of the more than 400,000 Cuban health workers, who over 56 years have served on missions in 164 nations, Rodríguez noted.

In this context, he recalled that the United Nations Organization and the World Health Organization have noted the fundamental contribution made by Cuban medical cooperation to the success of the fight against cholera in Haiti and Ebola in West Africa.

Rodriguez stated, “Cuba’s response is firm: on the basis of legitimate intergovernmental cooperation programs, we will continue to save lives and provide health and well-being wherever we are requested.”

During his remarks, the Foreign Minister explained that, despite the blockade and hostility of the United States, “Cuba is advancing in the construction of an independent, sovereign, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable nation, based on the proven capacity of resistance and creativity of our people.”

He reaffirmed that Cuba will continue to honor its commitments to international cooperation in the field of human rights, in particular its obligations under international instruments in this arena.

(Source: Granma)

Have you participated in other non-medical related tasks?

At the beginning of the mission we were helping neighbors remove the mud from their homes, in order to give us the opportunity to provide medical consulations to these people and thus accelerate the treatment process.

We are working in the Pintores de Chile community in Copiapó. At a second stage we were setting up our field tents in the El Salado community, where we stayed for 10 days. The rest of the time we were providing medical care to the community.

How have Chilean professionals, national or international medical organizations, and graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) supported the brigade?

On April 9, we received Dr.Carmen Castillo, Chilean minister of health; and Communist Party member, Lautaro Carmona; accompanied by Cuban ambassador in Chile, Adolfo Curbelo, and other local officials. They explained the outlook of the situation in the region.

We presented a proposal to them for a community work strategy focusing on epidemiological care. Later we integrated ourselves into the locality’s health system, collaborating with personnel from the epidemiology department. We are working with colleagues affiliated with the Diego de Almagro Community Hospital.

In n addition, we have received support from ELAM graduates since the days immediately following the disaster. They are working voluntarily and making an extraordinary effort, sometimes traveling hundreds of kilometers from the south of the country and requesting vacation time from their jobs.

How has the population reacted to the Cuban doctors?

We have received expressions of gratitude and love from the population in every locality we have worked in. The people have been very hospitable and are always attentive to our needs, so as to provide us with an appropriate solution, above all, so we don’t get cold, as that is the type of weather which most affects us.

We have been working on the ground, going from house to house in every community. Our aim is to complete a detailed investigation of the main health problems affecting inhabitants. We are supported by the leaders and experts of the region, and are acquiring comprehensive information from medical files. Likewise we are formulating action plans in order to provide an adequate solution to every situation.

All aspects of the work and cooperation carried out, both in regards to the contribution of the authorities and the population, have been positive; the members of the brigade are professionals, with a great humanitarian consciousness, are motivated, disciplined and committed to the task we have undertaken, we are a large family in which we all support and cooperate with each other.

The most striking thing is seeing the number of destroyed buildings; and how people who have lost everything or almost everything, continue to work tirelessly to repair their homes or try to salvage a few personal items.

What is the situation in regards to communication with Cuban authorities and family members?

Communication with family members via email and telephone has been continual. Efforts are made to facilitate communication on special occasions, such as Mother’s Day which was celebrated recently, or a relation’s birthday.

Communication with the Cuban health authorities has been constant, every day we receive information from the central unit for medical collaboration with the personnel from the institution and the Ministry of Public Health expressing continual concern for the families of the collaborators and the health of every member of the brigade.

(Granma)