Cuban doctors attending gunshot victims (in Haiti)

[Mika]

Cuban doctors attending gunshot victims
They are to continue offering their services in the Caribbean nation
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/marzo/mier3/10medicos-i.html

THE Cuban medical brigade serving in Haiti attended to 22 gunshot victims in just two days and are working non-stop under difficult conditions, reported the mission’s director, Dr. Juan Carlos Chávez.

-

The doctors are staying at their posts throughout the country, and in Port-au-Prince, the only functioning hospital is the improvised one set up by the Cuban brigade members

-

The lives of men, women and children have been saved in that facility, now flying the Cuban flag and the Red Cross banner, showing the way for anyone needing help.


The Cuban specialists are distributed throughout all the country’s provinces and attend to 75 percent of the country’s 8.3 million inhabitants.
The aid being offered by the Cuban personnel is crucial, if it is taken into account that Haiti has less than 2,000 doctors and nearly 90 percent of them work in the capital, according to the statement.

Its members have saved the lives of more than 86,000 people, and in the areas where they work, have reduced the infant mortality rate for babies under 12 months from 80 to 28 per 1,000 live births, and in children under five, from 159 to 39 per live births. The maternal mortality rate went down from 523 deaths to 259 per 100,000 live births.

Viva Cuba!

[Nlighten1]

1. They are Heros.

Bush would have skeedaddled at the first sign of trouble.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. And with HUGE BALLS OF STEEL too.

Can't imagine they will be seen with much sympathy by the new, er, bosses. Bulletproof vest may be in order.

[ott]

2. No big surprise here

Cuba exports more doctors to those in need than ANY other country on the planet.

Think about that a minute.

A third world country with a population of 11 million.

Topping every other country on the planet.

Those evil selfish communists.

Viva Cuba!

[Just Me]

5. They "define" compassion,...

,...which makes me feel ashamed as a member of this country.

However, I know that, if the people of my country knew the truth,...they would be right there. I have witnessed the behavior of our people in tragedy. They are amazing.

However, they are more oppressed than they, themselves, are willing to acknowledge,...because,...we have a media that "defines" a reality which simply does not exist. That is our life.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Big news, Mika! Very courageous investment of people power.

I'm afraid that _Bush is going to react to this in the worst possible way.

He should be aware that the ENTIRE WORLD will be watching closely.

What a total @$$.

Good luck and full steam ahead to the industrious, COMPASSIONATE Cuban doctors, who are known the world over for their personal involvement in the well-being and healing of human beings.

[Mika]

8. Cuba is now housing thousands of Haitian refugees

A friend who lives in S.E. Cuba told me by phone that there are several large refugee centers under construction for thousands of Haitian boat people escaping the rampage of the murderous rebel thugs. Medical clinics and temporary schools are under construction too.

I was also told that the Cuban Coast Guard ships got between several Haitian boats and the USCG vessels and safely escorted the Haitians into Cuban harbors (to the cheers of Cubans on shore) - so the US wouldn't ship them back to Haiti without a legally required asylum request hearing, which is underway now in Cuba. The Cuban government has promised that none will be returned until a stable non violent situation and a CARICOM recognized government is in place.

Cubans from all over the nation are heeding the call and responding to the desperate condition that many of the Haitians are in by cooking food and donating clothing, sanitary items, medicines, toys, and books to various groups and unions (like the Cuban teachers union and the Cuban construction workers union and the Cuba electrical workers unions and the Cuban federation of women) who are assisting the Haitians who have made it to Cuba. BTW, there is a considerable and valued Haitian-Cuban community in Cuba - a residual from the many coups and exits over the decades.



Viva Cuba!

[KG]

4. that is commendable.

:thumbsup: thanks, fidel. the US sends guns to haiti, cuba sends doctors.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. See you later, aligator! (nt)

[Mika]

9. Cuba supplies Africa, Latin America with free medical education, doctors

Cuba supplies Africa, Latin America with free medical education, doctors
http://64.21.33.164/CNews/y00/jun00/12e10.htm

Luther Castillo says there is not a single doctor in his remote community of 3,000 people in Honduras' Miskito Coast.

"The tragedy of my area where, when someone gets sick they have to walk for hours to get to a hospital, awoke in me from childhood the desire to study medicine," Castillo said.

He is one of the 3,400 students obtaining a free medical education at a former naval academy in Havana that has been converted into the Latin American School of Medical Sciences.

Another student, Carolina Unamuno of Chile, said: "In my country studying medicine is very expensive and not everyone has access to that kind of career. Even if we want to, we don't have the resources."

Students have to serve their communities

Cuba says its only requirements for these future doctors is that they come from families unable to pay for this kind of education and that they must make the commitment to serve their poor, mainly rural communities when they return home.

Viva Cuba!

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Maybe you should read John Kerry's position on Cuba and the embargo

first, before making claims about what his policy will be.

Many of the D.U. members have read it several times already. You probably should, too.

[Judi Lynn]

11. If you don't mind, I'd like to share this new info. on Texas trade w/ Cuba

March 3, 2004, 11:07PM

Cuba meeting likely to bring port more trade
By BILL HENSEL JR.
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Houston port officials signed a memorandum of understanding with Cuban authorities Wednesday aimed at increasing Texas' share of trade with the island nation.

Port officials want to see more American farm goods moving through Houston to Cuba under eased trade restrictions of a 4-decade-old embargo.

Since July 2001, shortly after the Clinton administration lifted restrictions on some products, American agriculture, namely Texas rice, has moved through the ports of Houston, Beaumont, Freeport and Galveston to Cuba.

Cuba buys much of its rice, for example, from Asia, but that drives up the cost of transporting the products. Ships from Gulf Coast ports with Texas rice can arrive in Cuba in five days, compared with 20 to 25 days from Southeast Asia.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2432523

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't you find it interesting that while it appears _Bush is possibly plotting an attack on Cuba, (his father being involved in the Bay of Pigs, of course) his home state is hard at work trying to increase trade with Cuba.

You may remember that in May of 2001, as soon as he was off to sit in our President's office, the Texas Legislature created its own Resolution to end the embargo on Cuba.

You couldn't really say the man has his finger on the pulse of America, could you?

[Judi Lynn]

12. This should be interesting to anyone who knows about the Cuba 5

who are political prisoners of the U.S. government for trying to protect Cuba from the Cuban Mafia.

It's an ad placed in the New York Times, to try to get the message to the American public, since most efforts to publicize this horrendous situation have been squashed:

For over 40 years, Washington has tolerated the existence of a
terrorist network in Miami, made up of extremist, right-wing
Cuban-Americans. These Miami-based terrorist organizations
operate with impunity. Anti-Cuba terrorism has caused the
deaths of almost 3,500 Cubans in a low-intensity warfare against the
island, a war unknown to most Americans outside of Florida.
Literally dozens of bombings and assassinations have been
perpetrated in Miami, other U.S. cities and Havana, by the anti-Cuba
terrorist groups.
Yet, terrorists like Orlando Bosch – who walks the streets of Miami a
free man – are protected by U.S. officials all the way up to the White House:
“ ... now the Bush Administration coddles one of the
hemisphere’s most notorious terrorists (Orlando Bosch). And for
what reason? The only one evident is currying favor in south
Florida.” (New York Times, July 20, 1990).
After decades of protests to the U.S. government, which did nothing,
Cuba dispatched a group of men to Miami to observe, monitor, and
report on the workings of the terrorist network. The objective: To protect
innocent lives in Cuba AND the United States.
The men, now known as the Cuban Five, collected evidence of the
terrorists’ plots, which was then presented to the FBI. On June 17, 1998,
a historic meeting was held in Havana. There, Cuban officials implored
U.S. law enforcement officials to act on evidence presented, in order to
end the cycle of terror.
Instead of arresting the terrorists, the FBI rounded up the Cuban
Five, the very people who were warning about the terrorist plans.
Fernando González, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo
Hernández, and Ramón Labañino were arrested on September 12,
1998, and placed in solitary confinement for 17 months.
(snip/...)


http://f6.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MAxHQCeFWPyckBHv5aC1MiojIioDnmx6vTnD8s9YY_lzVCPyO8JqlOAKkE-N5nP2zPekJd1IbQwOvkXNZb08nY9SKFwI_Q/%2AfreethefiveNYT3-3-04.pdf

It's on page 5 of Wednesday's New York Times, for anyone who's got a paper. Thank you.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Red Cross Bulletin describes work of the Cuban Doctors

A Red Cross bulletin describing the Cuban doctors' work in Haiti
2-03-2004 ICRC News 04/03
Haiti bulletin – 2 March 2004
Latest report on ICRC activities in the field


Assisting hospitals

In the capital

The situation in Port-au-Prince descended into chaos this past weekend. As a result, the ICRC’s capacity to work was severely limited. On 27 February, the organization had to pull its medical team out of Canapé-Vert Hospital in the capital after a group of armed civilians broke into the facility and threatened ICRC and Haitian medical personnel. The few doctors who remained had to cope with a massive influx of wounded during the night of 28 February.
(snip)

Meanwhile, in the former military hospital, a team of Cuban doctors has set up a surgical field hospital. In the night of 28 February, they successfully operated on 17 people with bullet wounds. On 29 February the ICRC provided them with enough first-aid kits to treat 100 patients, and the next day it supplied them with a surgical kit (1.3 tonnes) containing enough material to operate on 100 wounded. Also on 1 March, the ICRC was finally able to retrieve the first-aid kits (enough to treat around 1,000 wounded) that were waiting at Port-au-Prince international airport, ready for distribution to the country’s main hospitals.
(snip)

In Cap-Haitien, an ICRC team is busy making arrangements for the transfer of one of the two hospital modules from the Dominican Republic to the public referral hospital in Gonaives.

Meanwhile in Gonaives another ICRC team, supported by Cuban medical personnel, is preparing the ground for setting up the module at the hospital.
(snip/...)

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5WPNWV?OpenDocument

[Mika]

14. Thanks for posting the ICRC bulletin, JudiLyn

Its interesting that the US "fast response" teams take days and days to get rolling, while the Cuban med teams are on the ground and performing within hours.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Good point. They were there to actually HELP the Haitians.

That makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it? It's as if they actually GIVE a damn.

[Mika]

19. Also interesting that the Cuban gov does not ship Haitians back forthwith

After all of the anti Cuba BS that's thrown around in the USA, its amazing to hear a story like the one I posted earlier (about the Cuban CG intercepting Haitian boats before the USCG could corral them) and to hear that government officials, volunteer triage doctors, and regular Cubans of all walks of life lined the harbor in Holguin in order to help and assist the severely disturbed and traumatized Haitians. Within minutes the local CDR's had organized blankets and dry clothes, water and food which was brought right to the places needed. No armed guards, no Haitians running away or running from authorities (like the images we've seen from Miami of Haitians away running from INS & police) no police slamming them to the ground to cuff them - instead, they were welcomed and assured that they are in no danger of being abused or forcibly returned to the mayhem back home. On Cuban national TV there are charitable drives for Haitians in Cuba and back in Haiti. The news of Haiti now is not good. Aristides Lavalas party is being cleansed. Cubans are very upset, aware of the larger picture - and are on guard.

[Judi Lynn]

20. The images of the boats going out to rescue the terrified Haitians

in order to keep the _Bush-sent C.G. boats from returning them to hell IS deeply moving, even more so as onlookers already know that _Bush loves to flex the muscle of the pResidency the Supreme Court gave him, and he's looking for a chance to make things worse for Cuba, anytime. If he gets even a hint of an excuse, he'll probably be off to the races.

It's truly a David and Goliath story.

I've heard of the Haitian community in Cuba, too, for years, too. They have found haven there, and apparently have been treated with respect, somewhat different from what they know they can expect in Florida, after their 700+ mile trip.

It's truly amazing that a small nation which has been battered economically, and by continual acts of terrorism all these years, which has so little, STILL makes room for others.

[wjittermoss]

18. Castro always sends his medical brigade to impoverished and needy

countries. He even offered aid to US in the aftermath of 9/11 and a few hurricanes that devastated the SE.

[Judi Lynn]

21. You might also remember that the musicians who came to the U.S.

in 2001, to attend the Latin Grammy Awards, for which they had been nominated, got here in time for the ceremony which was to be held on September 11th.

The program was cancelled, and the Cuban musicians, with world-famous Chucho Valdez being the most prominent member among them, all stayed behind in Los Angeles, before returning home, so they could all give blood!