Cuba's "Medical Diplomacy"

[Zelda]

Cuba pushes its 'medical diplomacy'

By Michael Voss - BBC News, Havana - 2:00 GMT, Wednesday, 20 May 2009 13:00 UK

"If offering a helping hand is an extension of foreign policy, then (it is) welcome. I wish other countries would do the same," Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas told the BBC during a recent meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana.

There is a similar arrangement in Belize, the former British colony in Central America.

"We used to have a bad image of Cuba but that has changed. Cuba is not the monster it seemed to be," said Said Badi Guerra, Belize's Ambassador to Cuba.

"Our medical students would never be able to complete university because of the cost, yet they come to Cuba for free. We are very grateful for it."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8059287.stm