Thursday, February 4, 2010

Cubans mushrooming in Venezuela's sensitive sectors

Cubans mushrooming in Venezuela's sensitive sectors
According to reports from the Caribbean island, there are some 65,000
Cubans in Venezuela

Politics
The presence of Cuban people in Venezuela is increasing by the day. Ever
since the two countries initialed a cooperation agreement in October
2000, the number of people from the Caribbean island living and working
in Venezuela has skyrocketed.

In April 2003, the first Cuban doctors arrived in Libertador
municipality, Caracas, to work in a social healthcare program called
Barrio Adentro. According to Venezuelan official data, there are more
than 30,000 Cuban doctors across the country.

Apart from the physicians working in Barrio Adentro medical centers,
there were 6,525 Cuban doctors helping train medical practitioners and
health technicians in Venezuela in 2006, according to the web site of
the Venezuelan Embassy in Havana.

The same source said that there were 395 Cubans "contributing to boost
development of educational missions" in Venezuela in 2006.

On the other hand, Barrio Adentro Deportivo, a social sports program,
was established in April 2003. Its goal is "to spread sports and
physical education across the country, and contribute to the development
of competitive sport."

In 2006, there were 4,544 Cuban sport trainers in Venezuela.

Luis Alfonso Dávila, who was the Minister of the Interior during the
first months of Hugo Chávez's government, said that there are more than
60,000 Cubans in Venezuela. According to other sources close to Havana,
there are 65,000 people from the Caribbean island in Venezuela.

In several areas
Although most of the Cuban people living in Venezuela under the
Venezuela-Cuba cooperation agreement are working in the health and
education sectors, the Venezuelan government has requested Cuba's
assistance in many strategic areas related to the development of the
country.

A significant number of Cuban staff is working in the area of
identification and registration. The two countries signed an agreement
in 2005 for the automation of personal identification in Venezuela.

Cuba provides technical assistance in the sugar industry, where the
island has a great experience, "to contribute to the recovery,
modernization and development of the sugar production system and the
production of byproducts."

In the tourism sector, Cuban experts train Venezuelan staff to manage
hotels and other tourism facilities. They also have advised government
officials in the drafting of the National Plan for a comprehensive
development of tourism and the promotion and marketing of tourism
destinations and services.

Cubans are also providing assistance in transportation (railway and
subway systems), food industry, construction and shipbuilding.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Reyes Theis
EL UNIVERSAL

Cubans mushrooming in Venezuela's sensitive sectors - Daily News - EL
UNIVERSAL (4 February 2010)
http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/02/04/en_pol_esp_cubans-mushrooming-i_04A3390933.shtml

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