On September 19th, 20 years ago, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander Fidel Castro, met with a large group of doctors, nurses, and other specialists from the Cuban health system to inquire about their willingness to travel to the United States and voluntarily assist the people of that country, who had just suffered untold material and human damage due to the devastating Hurricane Katrina. This contingent of doctors and health personnel was named Henry Reeve, in memory of the courageous American soldier who fought alongside our heroic Mambises in our war of liberation against the colonial power.
In the 20 years since its founding, the Henry Reeve Brigade has been present in support missions to countries that have suffered very difficult health emergencies, such as Pakistan after the devastating earthquake that hit that country, in the fight against Ebola in African countries, the confrontation with the terrible COVID-19 epidemic, and other cases resulting from hurricanes and disasters in Latin America, the Caribbean, the African continent, and other regions of the world. Their selfless and courageous work is a living testament to the altruistic and humanistic vocation that characterizes Cuban medical collaboration. On the beloved sister island of Antigua and Barbuda, members of the Henry Reeve Brigade offered their modest contribution and support to face the difficult times caused by the effects of COVID-19.
As Cuba has denounced in multiple scenarios, today the US Government has resumed with greater force than ever its campaign of lies against the Cuban men and women who, like the members of the medical brigade working in Antigua and Barbuda, provide their services throughout the world. We see all kinds of threatening sanctions against governments that have sovereignly maintained collaboration agreements with Cuba for more than 20 years to provide vital medical services to the people of their respective countries. In its unhealthy obsession against the Cuban Revolution, the U.S. government does not stop for a second to consider the fact that its draconian measures could deprive millions of people around the world of basic health services currently provided by Cuban collaborators.
This campaign of pressure and lies clashes with the international condemnation it provokes. In Geneva on May 13, the Ministers of Health of the member nations of the Non-Aligned Movement, which includes practically two-thirds of the world's population, issued a forceful statement rejecting the dishonest and unjustified campaign to discredit Cuban international medical cooperation being waged by the United States government and expressed their recognition of the Cuban health professionals who have provided and continue to provide their services in various nations around the world. They emphasized that no one with a basic sense of honesty can doubt that this is an attack on multilateralism, a manipulation for political purposes, and an extension of aggression and hostility against Cuba. They described it as imperative to defend and recognize the valuable contributions of the thousands of Cuban health professionals who, at enormous sacrifice, continue to provide their cooperation.
Neither the discrediting campaigns nor the devastating effects of the intensified economic, commercial, and financial blockade will prevent Cuba from continuing to save lives and share its scarce resources with other nations around the world that need it and sovereignly request it. Access to healthcare is a human right, and millions of people cannot be deprived of this inalienable right for spurious political reasons and long-standing desires for imperial domination. For Cubans, solidarity is not charity, but a bastion of independence, justice, and peace. It is a noble quality that should characterize every human being.
An unforgettable quote from Malcolm X, one of the greatest fighters for civil rights and human dignity in the United States, teaches us, that "there is no better teacher than adversity. Every loss contains within itself the seed that guarantees the possibility of re-emergence."
by Sergio Martínez. Cuban Ambassador in Antigua and Barbuda.