Cuba would 'Gladly Cooperate' with US in Ebola fight - Fidel Castro


Fidel Castro, the former leader of Cuba, says the Caribbean island nation will "gladly cooperate" with the U.S. in the fight against Ebola in West Africa.  

Writing in the state media Saturday, the 88-year-old Castro said the cooperation would be in the interest of "peace in the world," and is not an attempt to resolve issues between the U.S. and Cuba.

"We will gladly cooperate with American personnel in that task and not in search for peace between the two states that have been adversaries for so many years, but in any case, for peace in the world, a goal that can and should be attempted," a Cuban television broadcaster read Castro's remarks on the air.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised Cuba's efforts Friday for its impressive response to the Ebola crisis, saying "Cuba - a country of just 11 million people - has sent 165 health professionals and it plans to send nearly 300 more" to hard-hit West Africa.

Cuba has a history of sending its doctors to emergencies around the world.

"It took our country not one minute to respond to the international agencies before requesting support against the brutal epidemic that has broken out in West Africa.  It's what our country has always done without excluding anyone," Castro said in his remarks.

Jorge Perez, director of the tropical disease hospital where Cuban doctors train for the Ebola mission, said he believed the U.S. and Cuban missions to fight Ebola could lead to improved diplomatic relations.

Cuba has sent medical brigades to disaster sites around the world since the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.  

Besides medical diplomacy, Cuba sends doctors overseas in exchange for money or goods, notably Venezuelan oil, making professional services a top export earner.


SOURCE: VOANews