Cuban Doctors Arrested, Harassed in Bolivia Return Home Safely

The four doctors were detained for allegedly "encouraging and financing" the protests demanding the reestablishment of the Constitutional Order.

Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez announced Sunday the return of 207 medical personnel who were offering their services in Bolivia, among them the four doctors who were detained for allegedly "encouraging and financing" the massive protests that demand the reestablishment of the Constitutional Order in the Andean nation.

"Another 207 Cuban collaborators in Bolivia are already flying back to their homeland. Their families, patients, neighbors and all of our people await them proudly and gratefully," announced Rodriguez.

The doctors were forced to abruptly interrupt their work due to the lack of safety as right-wing violence and repression escalate in Bolivia, part of the coup perpetrated against President Evo Morales.

Cuban doctors return to their country by groups, after the de facto Bolivian government investigated them for "encouraging and financing" the massive demonstrations demanding Morales' return and the restoration of the constitutional order.

A first group made up of 224 professionals arrived in Cuba last Saturday night, where they were received as heroes after their valuable work in the South American country.

“You are missionaries of life, who only have love to oppose hatred. Welcome back," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said during his welcome speech.

In a similar fashion, the departure of Cuban doctors from Brazil earlier this year saw severe consequences for that country’s most vulnerable population as the government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro struggled to fill up the vacuum left by the physicians; El Salvador is another country that halted the medical programs with Cuba, followed last week by Ecuador.