(Wikipedia Commons  / The Bear Flag is the official flag of the U.S. state of California.

By  Gary  Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Several California cities, including Sacramento, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, have passed resolutions supporting medical and scientific collaboration  with the socialist country of Cuba to address the COVID-19 health crisis. Last month, a resolution supporting medical and scientific collaboration between the City of Oakland and Cuba to address the COVID-19 health crisis was passed unanimously. This week, the Mayor and City Council of Sacramento passed a similar resolution urging the U.S. President and Congress to lift restrictions on access to Cuban medical expertise.  Sacramento, the capital city of the most populous state in the U.S. unanimously approved a resolution calling for increased cooperation and exchange between the people of the U.S. and Cuba.  The northern Californian city of more than half a million people joins over a dozen U.S. cities—including Oakland, Berkeley, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cleveland, Ohio and others—in urging state and national leadership to lift restrictions on access to Cuban medical expertise and imports of Cuban biotechnological products, among other demands. 

Is the blockade crumbling from within? https://t.co/XQEp21WkSn

— End the blockade 🇨🇺#WalkingForCuba (@cubasupport) November 12, 2020

“At a time when the U.S. and countries around the world are ravaged by this unprecedented pandemic, international cooperation is vital to address the devastating impact of the COVID-19 virus. Yet, as part of its decades-old blockade of Cuba, the U.S. government restricts medical cooperation and the importation of promising Cuban anti-viral medications.”

-National Lawyers Guild,  San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

San Francisco Resolution Says The World Would Benefit from Cuban Medical Expertise in Combating COVID

In July  2020,   The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco, in the U.S. state of California, approved a resolution promoting medical and scientific collaboration with Cuba to fight against Covid-19.

“WHEREAS, San Francisco is home to many prestigious medical institutions, organizations, and businesses, and is in a position to provide leadership to the rest of the country in medical research, treatment, and cooperation; and
WHEREAS, The country of Cuba has a long history of providing international medical aid to other countries with many of its medical personnel directly involved in the fight against COVID-19 as members of the specially trained Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade against Disasters and Serious Epidemics;  The people of San Francisco and the world would benefit from Cuban  biotechnical, medical, and public health expertise in combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

-City and County of San Francisco Resolution July 21, 2020

Cuban Medical Diplomacy Active In Several Countries Around the  World 

(twitter.com/CubaUNESCO)  Cuban doctors have been sent to several countries around the world to help fight the coronavirus

Cuba currently provides medical cooperation in 37 countries that report COVID-19. This is nothing new, as Cuban physicians are already known around the globe.   Since the 1960s,  Cuba’s  doctors and medical specialists have provided multiple  developing nations badly need health care.   Cubans deployed 37,000 doctors in 77 countries, as of 2015 according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.  Medical services comprise Cuba’s largest  export, bringing in some  $6.5 billion   — twice as much as tourism — in 2018. 

Cuba has sent some 50 medical brigades, made up of more than 3,000 health workers, to combat COVID-19 in nations of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean.   Various international organizations have publicly supported the candidacy of the Henry Reeve International Contingent for the Nobel Peace Prize for this work.