Machado Ventura
declared illustrious guest of Vallegrande
VALLEGRANDE, Bolivia, Oct. 18 (PL).— The city
council in this eastern town today declared as an
illustrious guest the Cuban First Vice President
José Ramón Machado Ventura, who is on an official
visit to Bolivia.
The
statement highlighted Cuba’s support in solidarity
to the Andean nation in the areas of health and
education, among others.
The Cuban vice president on Sunday laid a wreath
and signed the visitors’ book at the mausoleum built
on the site where the remains were found of the
Heroic Guerilla Ernesto Che Guevara.
Machado Ventura wrote, "With profound sentiment,
remembering the unforgettable Che, we have visited
this place, which says so much not only for the
Cuban people but for all the peoples of the world."
He also toured and laid a wreath at the site
where the remains of Tania La Guerillera (Tamara
Bunke) were buried.
As part of his agenda, Machado Ventura visited
the Señor de Malta Hospital, where the body of Che
Guevara was taken after he was murdered, and where
today dozens of Cuban internationalist doctors
provide their services.
There, too, Machado wrote a heartfelt message in
the visitors’ book:
"We are truly moved at having the opportunity to
visit places like this, which we waited for years to
have in order to pay a well-deserved tribute to the
man, the comrade, the teacher, that we admire so
much."
In the morning, the Cuban first vice president
visited the Santa Cruz ophthalmological center,
where Cuban technicians and specialists attend to
the people of eastern Bolivia.
At that hospital, Machado met with those
professionals as well as with other Cuban
internationalist workers, including those from the
education brigade. He praised the work of the Cuban
doctors, emphasizing the ophthalmology specialists,
who have provided restorative eye surgery to 456
Bolivians, Paraguayans, Argentines, Peruvians and
Brazilians as part of the Operation Miracle program.
On Saturday the 17th, the Cuban leader met with
Cuban professionals at the Valle Hermoso General
Community Hospital, located in southern Cochabamba.
Translated by Granma International
