Havana, September 19 (Prensa Latina) Twenty-one years ago, Cuba established the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics, an initiative of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro that continues to save lives in numerous corners of the world today.
Following the severe damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Caribbean island offered medical aid to the United States, but the government rejected it despite the difficult situation experienced by its population.
A few days later, on September 19, 2005, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution created this brigade, unsung heroes who fought pandemics and natural disasters around the world, from poor to developed countries, bringing life, solidarity and hope.
Although its official founding date was 21 years ago, the Caribbean nation had already deployed its healthcare professionals to several countries. For example, in 1960, when an earthquake devastated Chile, 25 doctors arrived in that country.
Between 1960 and 2005, 30 medical brigades emerged to collaborate in 19 countries, facing hurricanes, earthquakes, epidemics and even the wrath of volcanoes, according to data offered at last year’s commemoration.
Since then, Cuban collaborators have worked in the thick snow of the Himalayas, under the intense sun of the Middle East, in Africa, in America, from the Rio Grande to Patagonia, in the Caribbean and in Europe.
More recently, they have helped control the Ebola epidemic on the African continent and tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in 42 nations.
Despite this noble work, Cuban medical missions suffer the siege of the United States government, which tries to discredit their work and pressures third countries to do without this aid, which is vital for many people, mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno RodrÃguez has repeatedly warned that this cruel pressure and blackmail from the Oval Office is intended to undermine the humanitarian and solidarity program created by the Caribbean nation and Fidel Castro, and to continue cutting off sources of income to the national economy.
The contingent is named after Henry Reeve (1850-1876), an American who joined the Caribbean island’s independence struggles against Spanish colonialism in the second half of the 19th century.
nmr/mpp
