Díaz-Canel decorates Cuban rescue workers who helped in Venezuela

Images via Estudios Revolución

By Leticia Martínez Hernández, translated from the Spanish

Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and President of the Republic, awarded the "For Bravery During Service" medal to eighteen members of the Cuban Search and Rescue Brigade. They had provided aide in Venezuela following the devastating June 24 earthquakes, which claimed the lives of over 6,000 people.

At the Portocarrero Hall in the Palace of the Revolution, a ceremony was held to honor those who, even at great personal risk, stepped up to help the Venezuelan people during one of the country’s worst tragedies: two nearly simultaneous earthquakes measuring 7.5 and 7.2 in magnitude.

Lieutenant Colonel Rubén Eduardo Pupo Fuentes, head of the mission, said on behalf of his colleagues that "when our plane touched Venezuelan soil, the aftershocks of the devastating earthquake that shook the lands of Simón Bolívar and Hugo Chávez were still being felt."

We did not feel like strangers, he said, "and at the same time, we had in our memory the courage of our fallen brothers in the face of the Yankee attack at the beginning of this year. With the same commitment they showed in offering their lives, we carried the great responsibility of upholding the duty of solidarity with the peoples of the world."

Pupo Fuentes, with the medal already on his chest, stressed that "together with Cuban doctors and rescue brigades from other countries, we stood alongside every Venezuelan affected by the disaster, from elderly women to girls and boys, working to save lives and bring comfort to families who had lost their loved ones."

No one of us wanted to rest, he said, until we were sure that there was no longer any sign of life where we were. "The greatest satisfaction was in the gratitude of those who saw us remain firm and united in the task we had," he added.

"That dedication is not learned in manuals, it is born from the school of the Cuban Revolution, where we were taught that the life of others is sacred, and this deserved respect and dedication," he said.

He stated that in Venezuela we have kept the commitment to always honor the memory and teachings of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, and Commander Hugo Chávez Frías, Cuba’s greatest friend.

"Upon returning to the Homeland, before our President, the leaders present and all of Cuba, we can thank you for allowing us to have the high honor of representing our people, for being useful, and with our heads held high, today we proudly declare: mission accomplished!"

At the ceremony, attendees included members of the Political Bureau, Army Corps Generals Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, Minister of the Interior, and Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, first deputy minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and chief of its General Staff, along with Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez Oliva Fraga and other chiefs and officers.

The Cuban brigade arrived in Venezuela on June 28, made up of specialists from various branches of the armed forces, and spent long days working in the state of La Guaira alongside Cuban medical staff and medical teams from other countries.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC