In a simple yet moving farewell ceremony yesterday, the head of Cuban diplomacy in Guatemala, Nazario Fernández, described the profound impact these professionals have had on the most remote corners of the country.
He commended the services rendered and urged everyone to disregard the malicious minds and empty hearts that try to denigrate this work, because the humanism demonstrated every day for almost 28 years remains alive in the people of this sister nation.
At the event, which also paid tribute to Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro on the centennial of his birth and recognized each aid worker for their service, Fernández wished them a safe return home.
Earlier, Sheila Pamela Leyla, coordinator of the collaboration program at the Directorate of Integrated Networks of the Guatemalan Ministry of Health and Social Assistance, expressed that "we are gathered here to say thank you."
She described how the members of the Cuban medical brigade made the mountains, jungles, and poorest neighborhoods of this land their own home.
"You arrived not with weapons or preconditions, but with stethoscopes and an iron will. Since then, you have been the face of hope for millions of Guatemalans who, before seeing a Cuban doctor, had never had access to a decent medical consultation," she added.
“It fills us with profound pride to contemplate the magnitude of the work they have built, a task that transcends the professional to become a monument to fraternity,” the official stated.
“They leave with their heads held high, with the heroic satisfaction of a duty fulfilled and with the certainty that their time in our country has left a mark of health and dignity that time can never erase,” Leyla emphasized.
“To be an internationalist is to repay our own debt to humanity,” she recalled, citing one of the precepts of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution.
Their work was not only technical, but profoundly humane; they taught us that medicine is not a commodity, but a calling, the coordinator emphasized.
In José Martí Plaza on Havana's Las Américas Avenue, members of the brigade and the Caribbean state mission, along with the group that had just completed their mission, placed a floral offering before the bust honoring the island's National Hero and loudly proclaimed: Mission accomplished!
Since November 5, 1998, the Cuban healthcare professionals faced many difficult situations in 16 of the 22 departments of this Central American territory, with truly impressive dedication, exemplary service, and respect.
