Cuba does not receive a single cent for medical cooperation with Uruguay and the services of an ophthalmological brigade in the South American country, former Deputy Minister of Social Development María Olivera said here today.

Olivera, who is also a former president of the Chamber of Deputies, was part of the leadership of the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) when Cuba and Uruguay were preparing the agreement that 19 years later restored sight to thousands of Uruguayans, with some 123,000 surgical interventions.

Olivera made statements to the public television channel that amended previous remarks by Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin regarding changes to the bilateral agreement following criticism from the U.S. government.

According to Lubetkin, the funds paid for the work of the Cuban medical brigade will be directed to the doctors and not to the island's government.

Uruguay does not pay the Cuban government for the arrival of this solidarity brigade, Olivera rectified.

She recalled that in 2005 and until 2007 some three thousand Uruguayans traveled to Cuba to be treated under Operation Miracle, most of them operated on for cataracts.

The first trips were from Buenos Aires because Cubana de Aviación did not reach Montevideo, she recalls. She adds that many of them lived in poor settlements, lacked passports and traveled with their identity cards.

In reality, the first thing agreed upon was the existence of a reference hospital center, the "José Martí" Eye Hospital, which was fully equipped by Cuba.

From there — she continues — the first brigades began, for which Uruguay does not pay the Cuban government.

She explained that in practice the Social Security Bank deposits 250,000 dollars in an account at the Bank of the Republic. The head of the medical brigade pays from that money the airline tickets for annual vacations to the island, the payment for excess baggage and the stipend that each brigade member (about twenty) receives.

In turn, the State Health Services Administration takes care of the lodging, food and transportation of the Cuban collaborators, who carry out screenings throughout the country.

María Olivera considers that this cooperation "has been very important for Uruguayan society. As someone told her: 'I hadn't seen colors for a long time,' or another: 'Now I see my grandchildren.'"

There was a man who went on the first trip to Cuba and had lost his job because of vision loss, because he was poor, because he did not have three thousand dollars or 1,500 dollars to pay for an operation. Later he joined a drivers' cooperative, related the former deputy secretary of Mides.

The bilateral agreement promoted free care for those who do not have the economic resources to cover the costs of ophthalmological services, in order to restore or improve the vision of Uruguayan citizens.

As of August 2026, more than 160 Cuban doctors in seven brigades had passed through the country. By that date, the Caribbean experts had handled 956,433 consultations, 222,873 screenings and 122,928 surgeries.

Internationally, Operation Miracle, promoted at the time by Presidents Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, benefited more than six million people who regained their sight. From its beginnings it drew Washington's animosity.