Chilean Groups to Continue Sending Medical Equipment to Cuba

Solidarity groups and organizations in Chile are preparing a family-oriented and artistic event aimed at raising funds to send medical equipment and supplies to Cuba, a country facing the tightening of the U.S. blockade.

The gathering will take place on October 4 in the Chilean capital and will feature performances by soloists and music groups, children’s games, and a variety of food offerings, organizers announced during a meeting in the San Miguel district.

“This is an activity we have been preparing for a long time, and we hope to have the participation of groups not only from the Metropolitan Region but also from other parts of the country,” Carmen Gloria Quesada told Prensa Latina.

The event, called A Hug for Cuba, will raise funds to purchase equipment and spare parts for the Miguel Enríquez Hospital in Havana, explained Lucy Tellería.

During the preparatory meeting held over the weekend, participants held a videoconference with the hospital’s director, Pedro Antonio Rosales, who expressed gratitude to Chile for the assistance and recalled the bonds that unite the two peoples.

The clinical-surgical hospital is named after Chilean physician and politician Miguel Enríquez (1944–1974), founder of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), who was killed by the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

Last year, the Internationalist Collective, a member of the Cuba Solidarity Movement, organized a campaign that enabled the purchase of a modern minimally invasive surgical tower for the Diez de Octubre Hospital.

Flor Araneda, from the Siboney collective, noted that Cuba has historically been very supportive of peoples around the world, including Chile, and is now facing difficult times due to the U.S. blockade, which has intensified under the administration of Donald Trump.

Araneda also recalled that on August 13, the 99th anniversary of the birth of Fidel Castro will be marked, honoring the historic leader of a revolution that inspired movements across Latin America and beyond.

The event in support of the island is being organized by around twenty groups, including the Internationalist Collective, La Olla Común de Pedro Aguirre Cerda, the El Manzano Territorial Assembly, Siboney, Dos de Diciembre, and the Chilean-Cuban Institute of Culture José Martí.

Also participating are the Raíces Cubanas Cultural Association, graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), the ELAM Parents Association, the María Isabel Espinoza cell of the Communist Party, La Martí de Concepción, Café Brasil, and the Villa Sur collective, among others.