In brief
On Nov. 5, Turin’s Deputy Mayor Michela Favaro and President of the City Council Maria Grazia Grippo hosted Cuban Deputy Minister of Public Health Julio Guerra Izquierdo, reaffirming cooperation amid the U.S. blockade’s strain on Cuban hospitals. The pair reviewed a medicine‑collection initiative and a shipment of an emergency generator for a hospital in Contramaestre, with follow‑up actions already planned.
On Nov. 5, Turin’s Deputy Mayor Michela Favaro and President of the City Council Maria Grazia Grippo hosted Cuban Deputy Minister of Public Health Julio Guerra Izquierdo in the Musy Hall of the Civic Palace, reaffirming bilateral cooperation and discussing the U.S. blockade’s toll on Cuba’s health system.
Prensa Latina reported that the meeting was largely about the challenges Cuban hospitals face from frequent power‑supply interruptions and the broader effects of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade that the Cuban population continues to endure.
In a note posted on its Facebook page, the Turin City Council’s publication CittAgora mentioned that Guerra Izquierdo had led the Cuban “Henry Reeve” medical brigade, which delivered services in Turin during the early phase of the COVID‑19 emergency.
Grippo recalled a resolution adopted by the Turin City Council in March that expressed support for Cuban citizens, addressing the blockade’s impact on oil supplies and the worsening energy crisis in the Caribbean nation.
The meeting also highlighted a project backed by the Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba (AICEC) to collect medicines for Cuba’s population through Torino’s municipal pharmacies; the project aims to procure an emergency electric generator for a hospital in Contramaestre, located in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, with the shipment scheduled for the coming days.
Later that Wednesday, the city organized a public meeting titled “Healing Under Siege: The Blockade and the Cuban Healthcare System,” featuring Deputy Minister Guerra Izquierdo, neurosurgeon Peggys Cruz Pérez, AICEC representative Roberto Forte, and Giorgia Vernetti of the “Let Cuba Breathe” initiative.
