Now that country, and South American neighbors Brazil and Bolivia, are struggling to cope with outbreaks of the coronavirus that have overwhelmed hospitals and, in Ecuador, left bodies in the streets. The surge in cases and deaths, expected to climb in the coming weeks, has partisans arguing over a highly politicized question: Could those doctors and nurses now be saving lives?

“When they left, there were no specialists to replace them,” said Ricardo Ramírez, a retired physician in Ecuador’s hard-hit city of Guayaquil and head of a regional Anti-Corruption Commission. “It’s one important factor why we can’t provide an adequate response to the virus now.”

As the virus ravages countries around the world, Cuba’s Cold War-era medical brigades, long the island’s widest-reaching and most influential diplomatic tool, are having a resurgent moment. Since the pandemic began, Havana has reached deals to deploy emergency crews to 17 nations, from Italy to Andorra to Mexico and Haiti.

The renaissance of Cuba’s “doctor diplomacy” is prompting stark warnings from a Trump administration …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]