5,500 Cuban doctors work in 35 African countries

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5,500 Cuban doctors work in 35 African countries

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Over the years, more than 300,000 Cuban professionals have worked in Africa in various sectors.

06 June,2012 10:59 am

Cuba has some 5,500 doctors and other professionals working in 35 African countries, according to a top official here, who said the continent remains a central focus of Havanas diplomatic outreach.Over the years, more than 300,000 Cuban professionals have worked in Africa in various sectors, deputy foreign affairs minister Marcos Rodriguez told journalists here during a roundtable discussion late Monday.He credited historic ties of brotherhood for Cubas medical missions to 35 of Africas 54 countries, including about 2,000 doctors, and said that the effort also involves outreach in the areas of education and literacy.Rodriguez added that diplomatic exchange has worked in both directions, with thousands of African students over the years getting their educations in Cuba.Nearly 40,000 Africans graduated from schools in Cuba, the minister said of the half-century long collaboration with the continent, which he said remains a priority of the revolution and of Cubas foreign policy.The Cuban official, who led a delegation to Johannesburg on May 25 for an international conference on Africa, said that at the moment, there are some 3,000 African students studying in Cuba.He recalled Angolas fight for independence in which 300,000 Cuban fighters took part between 1975 and 1990, and during which 2,289 Cubans died.We have blood ties with Africa, the minister said.Rodriguez also noted that nearly 1.3 million African slaves were brought to Cuba during colonial times as part of the transatlantic slave trade and said descendants of enslaved Africans played an important role during the wars for independence during the 19th century.Cuba believes that it has a historic debt to Africa that must be repaid, he said.