The Grenadian newspaper The New Today published an article by Cuba’s Consul in Grenada, Ariel Pazos Ortiz, on the value of the Island’s international medical missions. The text, released in English, reviews more than six decades of health collaboration and reaffirms the relevance of Cuban solidarity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The article recalls that “from its first steps in Algeria in 1963, Cuban medical collaboration became a symbol of international solidarity.” That founding mission opened a path that would extend to dozens of countries in Africa, Asia, and, with particular strength, in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The diplomat also stressed that Cuban doctors have brought more than technical knowledge: “they have brought trust, companionship, and the confirmation that health can be a universal right, not just a privilege for those who can afford it.” Examples of this work are cited in Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Haiti, and several Caribbean islands.
The article further denounces the abrupt termination of cooperation programs as a result of external pressures and smear campaigns. The case of Brazil, following the departure of Cuban specialists in 2018, is presented as illustrative of the health gap left by the breakdown of that collaboration.
By highlighting the continuity of these missions over more than six decades, the Cuban diplomat’s article reaffirms that Cuban solidarity in health remains a living and recognized commitment, capable of transcending political circumstances and sustained in the concrete experience of saving lives.