Several countries around the world, including Cuba, choose May 1st to celebrate International Workers' Day. On this occasion, as in previous years, millions of Cubans marched across the island as an irrefutable demonstration of the majority support of the people for the sovereign decision to build and defend a system of justice and social equality that has characterized the revolutionary process experienced in the largest country of the Antilles for the past 66 years. The celebration of Labor Day was also a new opportunity for the vast majority of Cubans to raise their voices against the criminal policy of all kinds of aggression and economic suffocation imposed by the US government on Cuba and its people for more than six decades. There were also statements and threats from several representatives of the current US government, stating that their agencies and government institutions "would conduct a detailed monitoring of all those who participated in the march called for May 1st, as it would disqualify them from obtaining a visa to enter the US." They fail to learn the historical lesson that when there is dignity and just principles and ideas are defended, threats and blackmail are of no use.
Among the millions of Cubans who marched in every plaza across the country, the images were able to highlight thousands of people in their white coats, representing the doctors, nurses, technicians, and other Cuban health professionals. Their voices were heard alongside those of the rest of their compatriots, in defense of solidarity and brotherhood among peoples, in defense of the right of every person in this world to have access to quality medical care and to enjoy the most important right a human being can have: the right to life.
In the coming days, it will be 25 years since the beginning of medical collaboration between Cuba and Antigua and Barbuda. Throughout this period, hundreds of Cuban healthcare professionals have made their modest contributions to the medical care system of this beloved sister country. Today, more than 70 Cuban healthcare professionals work shoulder to shoulder with Antiguan doctors and nurses to provide quality healthcare services to the entire population. This May 1st, Cuban health workers in Antigua and Barbuda will celebrate the day at their respective workplaces, at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center, at the Hannah Thomas Hospital in Barbuda, or at other healthcare centers where they work. And next Monday, May 5th, the date Antigua and Barbuda celebrates Labor Day, they will also join their Antiguans and Barbuda brothers and sisters in commemorating this important date for all workers around the world.