Cuban Foreign Minister to ELAM Graduates: "Cuba Will Always Be Your Home"

“Cuba will always be your home,” expressed Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today to a group of U.S. doctors representing the 245 graduates from the United States of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana.

The meeting, held at the Cuban Mission to the UN, was emotionally charged. The Foreign Minister spoke to them about the mystical and resilient island they came to know, where, despite the greatest difficulties, “the joy and optimism of the Cuban people have not been lost.”

Rodríguez explained the reasons for his trip to New York, where he is leading the Cuban delegation to the High-Level Segment of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. He outlined the messages and proposals Cuba brings, with its consistently firm and coherent voice in favor of the Global South.

For Ivan Smiley, the experience on the island was a significant chapter in his life. A recent 2025 graduate of ELAM, he stated that he witnessed the capacity for resilience of its people. "They made jokes about everything, and that is something I missed when I arrived here," he commented.

Smiley expressed gratitude for his education, as did Elicia de los Reyes, who was moved to tears. She concluded her studies in Cuba in 2012 and wondered what they could do to support the country that made her dreams come true. With her statement, "I have so much love for Cuba," she summarized what that time meant to her.

Joaquín Morante, a pulmonologist and intensivist now working in the Bronx, also graduated from ELAM in 2012. He proudly expressed how medical graduates from Cuba receive a humanistic training that distinguishes them and referred to the prestige of the Cuban school. He spoke with satisfaction about his patients, particularly those who recognize him as a professional trained in the Caribbean nation, and how he always proudly exclaims that he is a "Cuban doctor" when asked. Morante mentioned the widespread "seed" of ELAM, which was founded on November 15, 1999, by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

Evelyn Erickson, a pediatrician, feels similarly, seeing her time in Cuba as the best thing that could have happened to her. She offered kind words in memory of Reverend Lucius Walker and credited Fidel Castro for his vision.

The testimony of Jiddou Sirker was particularly poignant, delivering a clear message with a single sentence: "I come from Houston, Texas, I am the only doctor in my family, thanks to Cuba."

The anecdotes and stories shared coincide with those of thousands of other young people from countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean who received their medical degrees on the island. Despite the U.S. embargo, Cuba continues to uphold the banner of international cooperation.

The ELAM program is consistent with UN conceptions of South-South cooperation. For years, it has also been extended to young people from underserved families and communities in the United States through full scholarships.

"The thing is, Cuba shares what it has, it doesn't give away its leftovers," affirmed Claudia de la Cruz, director of the organization IFCO-Pastors for Peace.

Foreign Minister Rodríguez's schedule in New York includes participation in high-level meetings and other multilateral events, exchanges with counterparts from various countries, and a program in the United States. The latter included a meeting with Cuban residents the previous evening.

The Cuban delegation also includes Deputy Foreign Ministers Carlos Fernández de Cossío and Anayansi Rodríguez; Cuba's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón; and the Cuban Ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres, among other senior officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Mission to the UN.

The new session of the General Assembly began on September 9 under the theme “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” taking place at a crucial time to renew the global commitment to multilateralism, solidarity, and shared action for people and the planet.