ELAM Chile Campaign Raises Over $61,000 for Cuba

The campaign by Chilean graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) raised 54.5 million pesos (approximately $61,000), which will be allocated to solar panels for a hospital in Cuba, the organization reported today.

The goal is to guarantee energy for some of the units at the Diez de Octubre Hospital in Havana, the organization stated in an Instagram post.

Announcing the conclusion of the "Cuba is not alone" campaign, ELAM graduates thanked all those who took part in this effort to help the Cuban people in their resistance to the brutal blockade imposed by the U.S. government.

The initiative concluded with a lunch held at the headquarters of the Confederation of Metalworkers, attended by doctors and their families, members of the solidarity movement, mayors, politicians, parliamentarians, Cuban residents, and diplomats from the island.

"A true mass movement has developed in Chile to help Cuba from Arica to Punta Arenas," the president of the ELAM graduates association, Ariel Ramírez, told Prensa Latina.

The siege imposed by the United States, particularly the oil blockade, impacts every aspect of life, including electricity, transportation, education, and healthcare — where currently over 100,000 patients await surgery, of whom 12,000 are children.

"In response to this, ELAM graduates are organizing ourselves, not only in Chile but also in other countries, to give something back to a people who helped us so much," he stated.

Ramírez described the Latin American School of Medicine project in Havana as very beautiful, which has trained over 31,000 doctors from 122 nations, including some 700 Chileans.