By Hedelberto López Blanch
As stated by prominent Brazilian activist Carmen Diniz Santos
By Hedelberto López Blanch * / Special contribution for “Resumen Latinoamericano”
Tireless and radiating solidarity and joy, Carmen Diniz Santos — coordinator of the *Comité Carioca de Solidaridad con Cuba* (Rio Committee of Solidarity with Cuba) — recently visited Havana. She brought a donation of medicines for the Manuel Piti Fajardo Hospital and attended, as a special guest, the inauguration of the Cuba-Brazil Friendship House, now located at 56 Amargura Street (between Mercaderes and San Ignacio) in Old Havana.
With the tenderness found only in those who dream of and love a better world — and after sharing warm embraces with friends who were awaiting her arrival — Carmen remarked that Cubans and Brazilians would now find the warmth of their brothers and sisters from the Latin American giant within that beautiful house. There, they can share experiences, tour the rooms, and visit the library, which holds a collection of books in Portuguese.
In October 2025, at the recommendation of ICAP (Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples), Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel awarded the Friendship Medal to Carmen Diniz Santos. She has been a member of the Brazilian Solidarity Movement with Cuba for over three decades, an activist with the MST (Landless Workers’ Movement), coordinator of the Brazilian chapter of the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity for the Peoples, and a member of the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity.
She received the decoration in late 2025 during the 9th Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba, held in Mexico. The Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Marcos Rodríguez Costas, together with Fernando González Llort — Hero of the Republic of Cuba and President of ICAP — presented the award to the honoree in recognition of her unwavering support and commitment. With her characteristic simplicity, Carmen emphasizes that when people thank her while receiving supplies or medication, she tells them: “Don’t thank me, because what we do is so little compared to what Cuba does and has done for the world; it is practically nothing.”
She adds, “For example, the *Mais Médicos* (More Doctors) program was carried out in Brazil, treating thousands of people who had never before had access to healthcare or even seen a doctor; they went to remote, hard-to-reach areas of the Brazilian landscape and to indigenous territories.
“Likewise, the *Yo Sí Puedo* (Yes, I Can) literacy program was implemented, through which the Landless Workers’ Movement has already taught more than 6,000 impoverished people—who had been living in the darkness of illiteracy—how to read and write. There are also young people studying at ELAM [Latin American School of Medicine] who would not have been able to do so in Brazil, as medicine is a highly elitist career path there. That is the kind of aid Cuba provides to peoples everywhere.”
Elaborating on this point, she added: “We saw it in Genoa, Italy, when television showed trucks filled with bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic; that nation asked other European countries for help, and none provided it. Yet, they found it in the Cuban brigade, which immediately offered its collaboration.
“Furthermore,” she added, “the Cuban Revolution and its people stepped in to liberate Angola and boost the fight against apartheid. There are countless examples of this kind of humanitarian solidarity — examples we could discuss for hours.
“That is why I say we do so little, because Cuba remains a beacon illuminating the world; it stands as proof that another world is both possible and necessary, despite all the difficulties and the criminal blockade that imperialism has imposed upon it for decades,” concluded the prominent activist.
(*) Cuban journalist. He writes for the daily newspaper *Juventud Rebelde* and the weekly *Opciones*. He is the author of *La Emigración cubana en Estados Unidos* (Cuban Emigration in the United States), *Historias Secretas de Médicos Cubanos en África* (Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa), *Miami, dinero sucio* (Miami, Dirty Money), and *Rubio, un mitómano incontrolable* (Rubio: An Uncontrollable Mythomaniac), among others.
