Aluta Continua: Cuban Updates... issue #2

Manning going to check heart
-Prior Beharry
Wednesday, August 4th 2004

PRIME Minister Patrick Manning leaves the country today for Cuba where he is expected to get a routine medical check-up on his heart -this according to a release from the Prime Minister's Office yesterday.
In April 1998, Manning underwent heart surgery in Cuba. Since then he has regularly gone to Cuba for check-ups.


PACEMAKER FOR MANNING
Manning to get pacemaker
By curtis williams
Friday, August 13th 2004

Patrick Manning...going to Cuba for surgery.
Already under medication for an irregular heart beat, Prime Minister Patrick Manning will now have a pacemaker inserted as doctors try to ensure his heart is not damaged.
Manning will this weekend return to Cuba for the operation, a mere ten days after he last visited the Caribbean island for what was then described as a routine check-up.


PM: I'm in better health
By LOUIS B HOMER South Bureau
Wednesday, September 1st 2004

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning, who returned from Cuba last Sunday morning after undergoing laser surgery to his eyes and implantation of a pacemaker, told party members: "I am now in a better health condition than when I left for Cuba."

Manning Article taken from the Trinidad Express... contributed by Alicia Ganess



Fidel visits Venezuelan ship bringing aid to Cuba
BY REYNOLD RASSI—Granma daily staff writer—

“THIS is a gesture of Bolivarian and Latin American solidarity, a gesture of fraternity, which is what we are,” affirmed President Fidel Castro on describing the aid offered by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Caribbean nations gravely affected by the recent Hurricanes Charley, Ivan and Jeanne.

Fidel was referring to the significance of the new Venezuelan mission Humanitarian Naval Support to the Caribbean Fraternity, which consists of construction materials and equipment, among other resources for repairing housing and other installations in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and Grenada.

The Cuban president visited Los Llanos amphibious T-64 craft anchored in the port of Mariel, Habana province, which transported those materials to Cuba, as well as a group of Venezuelans likewise lending their solidarity in the form of construction work in Sandino municipality in Pinar del Río province.

On his arrival at the port, accompanied by Adán Chávez Frías, the Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, and other Cuban leaders, Fidel was met by Alex Ascanio Palomares, frigate captain and ship commander, head of the task force for aid to our country and Jamaica, and other officers and crew members.

Aboard the boat, he was given a special salute by a company of marines, with various whistles corresponding to the category of president of the Republic in ceremonial naval protocol.

ANIMATED CONVERSATION

In the officer’s chamber, Fidel had an animated two-hour conversation with the officers in charge of the ship and the Caribbean support task force. The Cuban leader asked about the organization of this new Venezuelan mission for aid to Cuba and the other three Caribbean islands.

He expressed gratitude for this noble gesture by the Bolivarian government on behalf of the Cuban people and in particular the population of the westernmost areas of Pinar del Río, most affected by Ivan, where 76 Venezuelans who came on the boat are already working on recovery tasks.

Fidel spoke of the damage wreaked by the recent hurricanes on countries in the region and, in the case of Cuba, explained the measures adopted to avert the loss of human lives and resources, as well as the reconstruction and repair work underway to restore the situation as soon as possible.