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<a href="https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=58244&SEO=cuban-medical-cooperation-deemed-extraordinary-in-the-us">https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=58244&SEO=cuban-medical-cooperation-deemed-extraordinary-in-the-us</a>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Cuban medical cooperation deemed extraordinary in the US</h1><span></span> <img src="https://www.plenglish.com/images/2020/julio/28/Cooperacion-medica-Cubana.jpg" alt="" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="450" height="300">By
Deisy Francis Mexidor Havana, Jul 28 (Prensa Latina) <br></div><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><br></p><p>Cuba's medical
cooperation with other countries since the start of the pandemic is
today an extraordinary example of internationalism, said US activist
Diana Block, a resident of San Francisco.</p></div><div> <p>During a
virtual interview with Prensa Latina, Block expressed that President
Donald Trump's barbaric policies towards Cuba are the antithesis of the
Caribbean country's commitment to socialism and international
solidarity.</p><p>The author of the autobiographical book Arm the Spirit
-a Woman's Journey Underground and Back (2009) expressed her support
for 'the award of the Nobel Prize to the doctors of the Henry Reeve
Brigade' and indicated that she signed the petition that is circulating
to request this recognition.</p><p>Doctors at Henry Reeve represent a
model of service and solidarity that people around the world can take
inspiration from, Block emphasized.</p><p>It is also interesting for me,
she said, that the contingent bears the name that honors an American
who fought in the first war of independence for Cuba (1868-1878), which
points to a long history of solidarity between our peoples.</p><p>She
ratified that Cuban doctors and medical professionals have selflessly
shared their knowledge and even when the Caribbean nation fights the new
coronavirus, 'Cuba sent brigades to countries suffering from Covid-19.'</p><p>Diana
is one of the promoters of the idea that led the Board of Supervisors
of the City and County of San Francisco to unanimously approve a
resolution on July 21 for the United States to promote medical and
scientific collaboration with Cuba in times of pandemic.</p><p>As she
explained, she was part of the Venceremos Brigade in 2019 and 'several
of us had visited the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
in Havana, where we were impressed by the many medications they had
developed there.'</p><p>After the start of the pandemic, she said, we
heard that the 'Saving Lives' campaign in the US and Canada was trying
to get local governments across the United States to pass resolutions
calling for medical and scientific cooperation with Cuba.</p><p>'We
decided then that it would be very important to get the city of San
Francisco to pass a resolution that included the importation and
clinical trials of Cuban drugs such as the antiviral Interferon Alpha
2B,' of proven efficacy in treating Covid-19, he said.</p><p>At the
time, they thought this could be especially significant since San
Francisco is a center for medical and biotechnology research in the
United States, said the feminist and anti-imperialist activist, as she
defines herself.</p><p>In answering a question about the current
relations between her country and Cuba, Block regretted that Trump
tightened the blockade 'in every possible way.'</p><p>She recalled that
the Republican president 'activated (in May 2019) Title III of the
Helms-Burton Act, further limited travel and reversed all the positive
policies initiated by the Barack Obama administration.'</p><p>He has even tried, he added, to undermine the positive role of international medical brigades.</p><p>I
hope that many more resolutions will be approved to promote medical
collaboration with Cuba in the United States, he added, insisting that
the North American health system 'failed terribly to meet the medical
needs of the people during the pandemic and exposed the terrible racial
inequalities that exist in the same'.</p><p>Now is the time for
Americans to look to Cuba to learn about an alternative model of medical
care, said Block, who first traveled to the Antillean nation in 1977 in
the Venceremos Brigade itself.</p><p>'That experience motivated me to
do what I could to support the Cuban Revolution through the years,'
confessed this supportive friend who worked tirelessly in the campaign
for the liberation of United States prisons from the five anti-terrorist
fighters on the island.</p><p>Diana Block is a common name in various
online publications. Among others, 'I have written several articles on
the many achievements of Cuba and the importance of ending the criminal
US blockade against your people.'</p><p>ef/ga/dfm</p></div></div></div>
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