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by Elson Concepción Pérez, Gramma, page 6,  April 12th  2000.

… Just one definition would be valuable enough to explain this: Cuba made the Revolution and since the triumph of this revolution, it put it at the service of the poor of the world.  If this was not true, how could one explain  that even after 40 years of tough blockade, sanctions, aggressions and all sort of warfare, Cuba has been able to render its unselfish support to more than 130 countries?

At the time of welcoming heads of State and government from the countries of the South in our small country, 138 805 Cuban people have given technical assistance in the fields of health care, construction, sports, education, agriculture, sugar industry, fishing, and in other economic sectors to several Third World countries and in a lesser extent to some developed countries including medical emergency assistance in natural disaster situations in Europe, Asia Latin America, and the Caribbean.  Of this total number of civil co-operators, 76 771 have rendered their services in Africa, 43 677 in Latin America, 12 316 in Asia and Middle East, and 6 041 in developed nations.  During these years, our country has also cooperated in the formation of professionals for poor nations, therefore, 38 760 young people have graduated from the Cuban educational centers.

Nowadays, these professionals apply the acquired knowledge to support the economic and social development of their countries.  Likewise,  the Cuban cooperation has been present in the training of 12 452 professionals as well as in the design of and participation in economic projects  for building and refurbishment of schools, hospitals, airports, hotels, highways, factories,  sugar production plants and housing.

A significant line of cooperation because of its humanitarian nature is the care of children affected by the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl since 1991. In our country, these children have received medical assistance and general treatment including 15 722 under 15 years-old children and 2 895 adults from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Armenia and Moldavia.  In the current academic year, 8 097 young people are studying in Cuba including those medical students of the Latin American School of Medicine.

Similarly, 44 brigades made up of 1 642 physicians and specialists in the field of healthcare are giving their services free of charge to over 10 million people in 10 Latin American and Caribbean states and in the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa.

A summary of the technical cooperation provided by Cuba is as follows: Cuban co-operators who rendered service from 1963 to 1999 abroad amounts to 138 805; the number of trainees in Cuba in that period is 12 452; foreign graduates in Cuba from 1961 to 1999 amounts to 38 760 and 15 496 of them graduated from the university. COOPERATION WITH LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: The bilateral cooperation between Cuba and the Latin American and Caribbean countries shows a rising tendency and represents an incentive for the South-South relationships.