Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel awarded the “For Courage in Service” medal to members of the Search and Rescue Brigade that participated in relief efforts following the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24th.
According to the Presidency’s website, the ceremony took place in the Portocarrero Hall of the Palace of the Revolution, where the rescuers who assisted the Venezuelan people after one of the country’s worst tragedies were recognized.
Representing the brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Rubén Eduardo Pupo, head of the mission, recalled that upon arriving in Venezuela, they were still feeling the aftershocks of the earthquake that struck the nation.
“We didn’t feel like strangers,” the officer stated, also recalling the example of the Cuban combatants who fell during the U.S. attack earlier this year. He affirmed that the mission embraced the duty of internationalist solidarity with the same determination.
Pupo emphasized that, alongside Cuban doctors and rescue brigades from other countries, the specialists worked to save lives and provide support to the families affected by the disaster.
“None of us wanted to rest until we were certain there was no longer any sign of life wherever we were,” he affirmed, noting that the greatest reward was the gratitude of the Venezuelan people.
He added that this vocation of service “isn’t learned from manuals,” but rather is part of the teachings of the Cuban Revolution, based on respect for and defense of human life.
The head of the mission affirmed that the brigade left Venezuela with a commitment to honor the legacy of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, Army General Raúl Castro, and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
“Upon returning to our homeland, we can say with all our might: Mission accomplished!”
Members of the Political Bureau participated in the ceremony, including the Minister of the Interior, Army Corps General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas; the First Deputy Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and Chief of the General Staff, Roberto Legrá Sotolongo; Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez Oliva; and other military leaders and officers.
The Cuban brigade arrived in Venezuela on June 28th and consisted of 18 specialists from various departments of the Ministry of the Interior.
During their stay, they worked in the state of La Guaira alongside Cuban medical personnel and rescue teams from other nations in the search and assistance efforts for the victims of the two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.5 and 7.2, which shook that South American country and caused more than six thousand deaths and extensive material damage.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
