The medical brigade is prepared to be sent immediately along with 36 tons of medical supplies. The group is made up largely of seasoned doctors with previous experience volunteering to provide medical services in countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia, often in remote areas under harsh conditions. The volunteers also have a working knowledge of English.

The Cuban government first issued its offer August 30, the day after hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana. It offered a brigade of 1,100 doctors carrying 26.4 tons of medical supplies.

On September 4, with no public acknowledgement of the offer by the U.S. government, Cuban president Fidel Castro reiterated it. He reported that a total of 1,586 doctors carrying 36 tons of supplies was now ready to be mobilized at a moment’s notice to the hurricane-devastated areas.

“We have done all the necessary estimates. Within one hour and 50 minutes, one of our planes could be landing at the international airport closest to the site of the tragedy,” said the Cuban president on the September 2 nationally broadcast Roundtable television program.

A day earlier, U.S. State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack omitted Cuba from the list of governments that have offered aid. While the Cuban offer has been reported in the Latin American media, it has received almost no coverage in the U.S. press.

“We will wait patiently [for the White House’s response] for as long as it takes,” said Castro at a September 4 gathering in Havana of the 1,586 members of the medical brigade, who reported for duty with their backpacks and white coats.

While awaiting the White House’s response, members of the medical brigade have spent the time brushing up on their English and taking part in intensive workshops on epidemiology.  
 
Long record of internationalist aid
The response by the government and working people of Cuba to the social disaster in New Orleans is not unique. It is consistent with revolutionary Cuba’s longstanding record of internationalist solidarity.

Tens of thousands of Cuban doctors and nurses are currently volunteering in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Nearly 26,000 Cuban health-care professionals are serving in 66 countries, Castro reported.

Medical teams from Cuba operated clinics in Indonesia and Sri Lanka after a deadly tsunami rolled across the Indian Ocean region in December 2004, taking hundreds of thousands of lives.

In 1998 after Hurricane Mitch struck Central America, Cuba sent 121 doctors to Honduras and a similar number to Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

That year the Cuban government took the initiative to create the Latin American School of Medicine to train thousands of youth from Central America and the rest of the continent to improve longer-term medical care in those countries. Today there are over 12,000 youths from 83 countries studying medicine there. The school recently graduated its first class of 1,610 students.

Cuba also stands out for its record in responding to natural disasters. Because of the level of organization and political consciousness among working people and youth, as well as the priority the government gives to the needs of the majority, Cuba has been able to prepare in advance of hurricanes with results unequalled by any other country.

An effective system of popular mobilization and education to prepare the population for hurricanes involves the neighborhood-based Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, trade unions and other mass organizations. This has made it possible to carry out large-scale evacuations before hurricanes, minimizing the loss of lives.

In September 2004, in preparation for Hurricane Ivan, some 1.9 million people were evacuated to safety. Three out of four were housed with families. The rest were accommodated in 2,500 shelters; all had access to doctors, nurses, food, and medical supplies. In addition, some 1,700 kitchens for feeding both refugees and volunteers were set up across the country, with more than 6,000 culinary workers mobilized in Havana alone.

No one in Cuba died as a result of Hurricane Ivan. In the rest of the Caribbean, 70 people perished in the storm, and at least 50 more storm-related deaths were reported in the United States.

The previous month, Hurricane Charley struck Havana and then cut through Florida. Four people died in Cuba, while 25 lost their lives in Florida.

After each of these storms, hundreds of thousands of people have been mobilized to clean up and rebuild homes with national government financing. Government aid has been prioritized for the neediest, minimizing any disparity in access to resources according to who has money.
 
 
Related articles:
Cuba: 1,500 doctors stand ready to aid victims
Revolutionary gov’t offers example of international solidarity  
 
 
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