Dr
Hilda Molina is the former
chief neurosurgeonNeurosurgery is the surgery discipline focused on treating the central nervous system, peripheral nervous systems and spinal column diseases amenable to surgical intervention....
of
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
. Molina was also a deputy in the Cuban National Assembly but has been a critic of the Cuban government since the early 1990s. Her criticisms focus primarily on Cuba's state-governed healthcare system.
In 1987, Molina founded the neurosurgery center in
HavanaHavana is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city is one of the 14 Cuban provinces. The city/province has 2.4 million inhabitants, and the urban area over 3.7 million, making Havana the largest city in both Cuba and the Caribbean region...
. By 1991, her center had become one of the most important scientific centers in Cuba.
Dr
Hilda Molina is the former
chief neurosurgeonNeurosurgery is the surgery discipline focused on treating the central nervous system, peripheral nervous systems and spinal column diseases amenable to surgical intervention....
of
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
. Molina was also a deputy in the Cuban National Assembly but has been a critic of the Cuban government since the early 1990s. Her criticisms focus primarily on Cuba's state-governed healthcare system.
In 1987, Molina founded the neurosurgery center in
HavanaHavana is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city is one of the 14 Cuban provinces. The city/province has 2.4 million inhabitants, and the urban area over 3.7 million, making Havana the largest city in both Cuba and the Caribbean region...
. By 1991, her center had become one of the most important scientific centers in Cuba. The same year, Molina claims she was informed by the then Minister of Health, Julio Teja, that her center was henceforth to treat foreigners paying in U.S. dollars. Previously, the center had treated only Cuban patients. Dr. Molina subsequently resigned her position at the center and her seat at the National Assembly. Molina claims that she and her son were subjected to mob retaliation in what are termed "acts of repudiation". She had continuously been denied a visa to travel for personal as well as professional reasons until June, 2009 when permission was granted to visit family in
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
.
Requests for travel
Dr. Molina has made many requests to visit family members residing in
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
. In 2004, after Molina was again denied a visa by the Cuban government. This letter from Dr. Molina was forwarded to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other international human rights groups. In the letter Molina stated: "The Cuban government impeded me from temporarily visiting Argentina for a reunion, after 11 years of forcible separation, with my son, who is a naturalized Argentine, and with his wife who is an Argentine citizen". She also listed numerous examples where she believed her rights had been violated by the Cuban authorities going on to state that "the arbitrary state organs that delay or deny, provoking the tearing apart of thousands of innocent families, that submerges them in paralyzing fear, so they are incapacitated to reclaim the respect for their rights most elemental."
http://www.bradynet.com/bbs/argentina/100105-0.html
In July 2006, a week before
Fidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician, one of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976, and then the President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008...
's illness led to the
Cuban transfer of presidential dutiesThe 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties was a transfer of duties of the Cuban presidency from Fidel Castro to the first vice president, his brother Raúl Castro, following Fidel's operation and recovery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to be diverticulitis...
to brother
Raúl CastroBrigadier-General ' Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is the President of the Cuban Council of State and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba...
, the
Cuban PresidentThe President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba. The president of the Council of State is, at the same time, the head of state and head of government...
was questioned by international leaders and journalists on the issue whilst attending a conference in Argentina.
Argentine PresidentThe President of Argentina is the head of state of Argentina...
Néstor KirchnerNéstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić was the President of Argentina from May 25, 2003 until December 10, 2007. A Justicialist, Kirchner was previously governor of the province of Santa Cruz....
took the opportunity to press the Cuban leader to allow surgeon Hilda Molina, a one-time Castro ally, to leave Cuba to be with her children and grandchildren already in Argentina.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15114410.htm At an improvised press conference, Miami's Channel 41 reporter Juan Manuel Cao asked Castro about Molina, a reportedly infuriated Castro asked the reporter, "Who is paying you?" and later accused him of being "a mercenary" for
President BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/139729.
In June 2009, it was reported that Cuban Government reversed its position and that Molina will now be allowed to visit Argentina.
Dr Molina's story was inspirational to
Marcos AguinisMarcos Aguinis is an Argentine writer born in the province of Córdoba. In 1983, when democracy was reestablished in his country, he was appointed head of the Secretary of Culture.- Background :Marcos Aguinis...
best selling Novel "La Pasion Segun Carmela" (in Spanish)
http://www.aguinis.net
See also
- Healthcare in Cuba
- Tourist apartheid in Cuba
External links