Dong Hoy Hospital, enduring heritage of friendship between two nations

 DONG HOI, Quang Binh, Vietnam, Sep 26 (ACN) ˗ Fifty years ago, Fidel arrived in Dong Hoi, in Quang Binh province. To this territory, named by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution as the link that united the two Vietnam in those years -the North and the South-, and despite the news about a typhoon close to this region at that time; he arrived with the aim of visiting the liberated territories of South Vietnam, becoming the only Head of State or Government worldwide to do so.

The Commander-in-Chief appreciated, first hand, the "unsurpassed example of courage and heroism inside Vietnam", where Quang Binh was at the forefront, "as the vanguard of the north and the rearguard of the south".

He observed on his way the craters left in this region by the bombs of the Yankee aviation; the destruction caused by the imperialists to this province; the attacks on cities, villages, schools, bridges, and other social works, a true "war of extermination that they wanted to make against the people of this province of Quang Binh".

In fact, history records that more than one million bombs were dropped on this territory, an amount that had never been used against any other people in the world, forcing its inhabitants to live practically underground in order to survive.

On September 16, 1973, in a speech delivered in the capital of Quang Binh province, Fidel stated that "the people of Cuba will contribute to the construction of the Dong Hoi hospital. And we want to begin this work as soon as possible. We will build and fully equip the new Dong Hoi hospital, and we will study what new forms of cooperation we can carry out with this province and this city".

In effect, the Commander in Chief was demonstrating with concrete deeds the solidarity of the Caribbean island with the heroic Vietnamese people, in the midst of the war for their independence and national reunification, and especially with the province of Quang Binh.
Five decades after that historic and courageous journey, that beautiful expression of solidarity towards a brotherly people, that great milestone in the brotherly relations between Cuba and Vietnam, the member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party Esteban Lazo Hernandez, president of the National Assembly of People's Power and of the Council of State, and the Cuban delegation arrived in Dong Hoi.

Today in this city stands out a hospital very similar in construction to a Cuban hospital, which bears the name of "Cuba-Vietnam Friendship", with more than 1,000 beds; faithful heritage of the promise fulfilled by Fidel as a donation from the Cuban people to their brothers in this province.

As a first activity, Esteban Lazo laid a wreath in front of the bust dedicated to the Commander in Chief, located at the main entrance of this facility. Then, he talked with his patients about the common history of both countries, asked if they knew the history of this health institution, about who Fidel and Ho Chi Minh were, and about how to defend their legacy and the brotherhood between our nations. The Vietnamese were deeply grateful for the solidarity of Fidel and Cuba, and expressed that this love between the two peoples will last forever.

The head of the Cuban Parliament toured the Pediatrics ward, talked with patients, relatives and health personnel, including a Cuban doctor who works in this facility, Annette Ramos Plascencia, a native of the municipality of Cotorro, in Havana.

Later, he participated in an emotional meeting of friendship held in the theater of the Dong Hoi hospital, where once again the conviction was ratified that Cuba and Vietnam: united we will win!

The words of one of the translators who accompanied Fidel in his visit to this brother country in 1973, and of Yolanda Ferrer, as founder of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with South Vietnam, were touching for the whole audience, precisely on the day of its 60th anniversary.
On the day, the President of the State Council was accompanied by the highest provincial authorities and other officials of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.