Michel Martelly receives sendoff from Cuba by Cuban President Raoul Castro, Nov 17, 2011
The following article appeared in the Haiti bi-daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste. Translation from original French to English by Roger Annis.
The large Haitian delegation to Cuba led by President Michel Martelly must be pleased with its recent visit to Cuba. Cuban authorities promised to build seven community hospitals and five health centers in Haiti.*
According to a note from the communication office of the President, Cuba has made other new commitments to Haitians in the field of education. “In addition to the Haitians who will continue their medical studies in Cuba, Cuban cooperants in Port au Prince will continue with the “Yes I can” (Wi mwen kapab ) literacy program that aims to teach one million Haitians to read and write.
The tripartite programs "Haïti-Cuba-Venezuela" and "Haïti -Venezuela- Brazil" were also evaluated during the Haitina officials’ visit. Under this collaboration, Haiti will benefit from new sport centers and Cuban sports trainers to riase the level of certain sporting disciplines, including volleyball, basketball and tennis. Acording to the same not, Havana will provide technical assistance to better administrate the heavy engine division of CNE (National Equipment Center, the Haitian government’s road-building enterprise) SMCRS (government waste collection service) and the school bus company Dignity.
Cuba will also assist Haiti with the development of agriculture and fishing potential. Twenty Cuban veterenarians will soon arrive in Haiti to assist. The fragile state of Haiti’s environment has also caught the attention of Cuba> It plans to assist in a struggle to reduce environmental degradation.
During this first visit to Cuba, President Martelly met the principal leaders of Cuba, including Fidel Castro and his successor as president of Cuba, Raul Castro.
* The 7 hospitals and 5 clinics mentioned in the article above are expansions of existing facilities. Presently, Cuba operates 23 communal (provincial) hospitals and, in cooperation with Venezuela, ten comprehensive diagnostic centers. All of these are operated in close cooperation with the Ministry of Population and Public Health of the government of Haiti.