The Danish publication "Kommunist", organ of the Communist Party in Denmark (Kpid), highlights in one of its pages an article by the Ambassador of Cuba, Roger López García, on the work of the "Henry Reeve" Brigade.
“An award to a noble cause"
The 'Henry Reeve' Brigade was created on September 19, 2005 by the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, in response to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans, in the United States, which left around 1,336 deaths and losses valued at $ 75 billion dollars.
The initial group of more than 12,000 Cuban health professionals showed their willingness to support the recovery of New Orleans, however, the US government rejected that help.
He was called “Henry Reeve” in homage to the young American, from Brooklyn, New York, who joined the Cuban patriots as a soldier in the war of independence against the colonial rule of Spain. In the history of Cuba, his example has been a paradigm of international solidarity aid.
The mission of the “Henry Reeve” Brigade is to provide humanitarian-medical-health aid to populations victims of natural disasters and epidemics in other countries, and to help their recovery. Its members are mobilized immediately between 24 and 48 hours, depending on the type of adverse health event. Most of its members have experience in international health missions and participation is completely voluntary.
The first emergency that the Contingent faced, a few days after its creation, was in Guatemala, to assist the population affected by the floods that occurred in October 2005.
It also highlights the work of the Contingent after the impact of the earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005, which caused the loss of 70 thousand human lives, 100 thousand injured and 3 million homeless.
Cuba, with the support of this Contingent, was one of the first countries in the world to respond to the call of the World Health Organization and the United Nations to confront the Ebola epidemic in Africa in October 2014. In less than two weeks, more than 5,000 Cuban doctors and nurses volunteered to fight the epidemic; from them, more than 500 health professionals were selected and trained; but finally only 256 participated.
The work of our health professionals touched the whole world, on May 26, 2017, the Contingent received the Dr. LEE Jong-wook award from the World Health Organization at the ceremony of its 70 Assembly. On that occasion, the presenter of the award, IHN Yohan, said: "The Henry Reeve Brigades has spread a message of hope to the whole world."
Since the beginning of the Covid-19, more than 3,700 of its members, grouped into 54 brigades, have provided their collaboration in 39 countries, including some in Europe, such as Italy, Andorra and Azerbaiyán, affected by this pandemic.
Since April 28 of this year, a call has arisen in various European cities, mainly in France and Italy, in favor of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Contingent Specialized in Situations of Disasters and Serious Epidemics "Henry Reeve" of Cuba.
Later, other organizations from the United States (CodePink and the International Committee for Justice), and other countries, actively joined. Organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean also did so, a trend that has spread to the rest of the continents, turning this request into a global campaign.
The merits have been justified in the broad support offered by Cuban physicians in more than 50 countries as part of the confrontation with Covid -19 and in rejection of the discrediting campaign that, from the United States, presents false arguments about medical collaboration and professional capacity of the health personnel who make up said brigades, when, otherwise; the northern nation intensifies its unilateral economic, commercial and financial blockade, which lasts more than six decades.
Last September, the World Council for Peace, representing national committees from 100 countries, officially registered the Contingent's candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021, in a letter addressed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Based on the applications issued by the first endorsers, the Norwegian-based Nobel Committee officially admitted the candidacy of the Henry Reeve Brigade on September 26.
The right to nominate corresponds to academics, artists, organizations that work in favor of the promotion of peace and human rights, winners of the award on previous occasions and fundamentally to parliamentarians, since these constitute the endorsers recognized by the Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Parliament, institutions in charge of admitting nominations, selecting a winner and subsequently carrying out the award ceremony that will take place on December 10, 2021.
The work of the Henry Reeve Brigade allowed them the recognition to be awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. This is how the various institutions, personalities and organizations that have proposed this award consider it.
Access to health is a human right. Since the Cuban medical cooperation began in 1963 and until April 2020, our country's experience has been put at the service of 87 countries and territories.
The health of all peoples is a fundamental condition for achieving development, and a t the same time depends on the broadest political will and cooperation among States.
Recently, the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Cannel, recalled the words of Comrade Fidel: “Doctors and not bombs”, because our health professionals have been courageous soldiers in the fight against death and pain.
If the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded taking into account the sacrifice, and the desire to benefits the human beings, there is no doubt that Cuban doctors have won the admiration of all those who have promoted this award.
Roger López García
Ambassador
Republic of Cuba
@CubaMINREX
Embajada de Cuba en Dinamarca