Fidel Castro says Cuba is ready to cooperate with the United States in the battle against Ebola. The 88-year-old former leader of Cuba wrote in state media on Saturday that such cooperation would be in the interest of “the peace of the world.”
“We will gladly cooperate with American personnel in that task, and not in search of peace between the two states that have been adversaries for so many years, but ... for peace in the world, a goal that can and should be attempted,” Castro wrote.
“The medical personnel who heads anywhere to save lives, even at the risk of losing theirs, are the greatest example of solidarity that a human being can offer, especially when one is not driven by material interest.”
Cuba has already sent 165 doctors and nurses to help fight Ebola in Sierra leone and it plans to send 296 others soon to liberia and Guinea.
Cuban officials said on Saturday that their health ministry would try to organise more aid for the affected countries in West Africa at a meeting with Cuban allies and international health organisations on Monday. The South American county’s efforts have already brought unusual praise from US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was quoted saying that countries like Cuba had taken impressive steps to tackle Ebola.