The director of Integrated Health Services Networks, Bertha Irlandina Sam, thanked the Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) in Guatemala, for commemorating today 27 years of presence in the country.

«It really is a privilege for me to be at this celebration,» emphasised the head of that organ of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance to doctors from the Caribbean island who are coordinators here in different departments.

She recounted that she was 27 years old, recently graduated, when she was working in Quiché and Hurricane Mitch impacted the region, for which they were consulted about the required support and the possibility of the Cuban brigade being in the nation, to which they said: we need them.

«Now it falls to me to participate from this position and dedicate a few simple words to you but full of gratitude, ‘because many of you risked and even gave your lives'» within the framework of healthcare, described the doctor.

«This stage is said easily, but being away from the homeland is something full of mixed feelings,» she considered, while sending a greeting and fraternal embrace to the families of the Antillean white-coat professionals.

She recalled the work provided by the Cuban doctors amidst the tragedy in 2018 due to the eruption of the Fuego volcano.

«Other events have battered this Central American territory, but we also got up and the health workers continue being part of this history, to which the effort of Cuban collaboration is added,» expressed Sam.

The devastating passage of Mitch through Central America brought on 5th November the precursors of this altruistic and humanist cooperation between two brother peoples.

The BMC in its beginning had a transcendental performance in the face of the consequences of meteorological phenomena, an action which continued during these 27 uninterrupted years.

To the precursors followed continuous reliefs, all with testimonies that endure through time, linked even to the confrontation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Different are the shows of gratitude each day for the value of the Cuban doctors for the land of the quetzal, above all for the poor and indigenous majorities in Guatemala.