French NGO Nominates Cuban Medical Brigades For Nobel Peace Prize

French organization Cuba Linda advocated Tuesday to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the Cuban Henry Reeves medical brigades, deployed in more than 20 countries to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The international community is witnessing the solidarity of health professionals who leave their own country to provide services and share experiences in other parts of the world, which in the case of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus even reach the heart of Europe,” an official statement reads.

The Henry Reeve International Contingents, specialized in disaster situations and epidemics, are made up of doctors, nurses, and specialists that, since the outbreak began, have been at the frontline of the fight against the pandemic.

As of Tuesday, Cuba has sent doctors and nurses to 21 nations across the world including South Africa, Italy, Honduras, Cape Verde, Suriname, and across the Caribbean. The medical staff assists the local healthcare system by providing their services to COVID-19 infected patients.

According to the organization, founded in 1998 to promote ties with the island, corporate media cannot hide the act of international solidarity that although comes as a surprise to many in Europe, is well known in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where thousands of doctors have been saving lives since the triumph of the Revolution on Jan. 1, 1959.

Cuba Linda pointed out that in 2015 Norwegian trade unions nominated the medical brigades for the award for their work in West Africa to confront Ebola.

Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the world, the NGO created the public Facebook group "Prix Nobel pour les brigades medicales cubaines” (Nobel Prize for Cuban Medical Brigades) in order to gather public support.