Ecuador Thanks Cuba for Training Physicians

Quito, Mar 1. -Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño, speaking on behalf of his people and government, expressed immense gratitude to the Cuban people for its solidarity in training physicians, despite the criminal U.S.-imposed blockade over 50 years ago.

During an official ceremony on Wednesday night, the Ecuadorian foreign minister and Cuban Ambassador Jorge Rodriguez bid farewell to 29 students chosen to study at the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).

"The United States, with its criminal blockade, wants to dominate the Cuban people. The Caribbean island has an immense heart and generosity to give the world its facilities, knowledge and resources, to train physicians and save lives," Patiño stated.

That solidarity with the Ecuadorian people and government in training so many Ecuadorian students in Cuba, will allow those graduates to return as a breath of fresh air to improve our health care system, Patiño said.

At the end of 2010, some 29,340 students from 126 countries are studying in Cuba, 35 of them from Latin America and the Caribbean, including 1,810 Ecuadorians, and 1,729 of them are studying edicine.

As of 2010, the ELAM, created 12 years ago on the initiative of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, had graduated about 435 Ecuadorian physicians, and other 98 should graduate in August.

Fifty of these graduates are now participating in the Manuela Espejo Solidarity Mission, a program to the identifiy people with disabilities to provide them with services. mh/rab/iff/prl
Modificado el ( jueves, 31 de marzo de 2011 ) (Prensa Latina)