650,000-plus Latin Americans have had sight restored

By Juan Diego Nusa Peñalver
HAVANA, June 25

More than 650,000 Latin American and Caribbean citizens have had their sight restored thanks to the Operation Miracle ophthalmological rehabilitation program developed by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela.

During the meeting of the parliamentary International Relations Commission yesterday, Marta Lomas, minister of foreign investment and economic cooperation, reviewed the progress of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), of which Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua are members and whose programs additionally benefit a number of countries in the region.

The minister summed up the five ALBA Summits that have taken place to date, the last of which was in April in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where 32 projects were approved to promote Latin American and Caribbean unity.

She also referred to the implementation of other programs within the ALBA related to oil supplies and savings; the use of renewable sources of energy; and the implementation of literacy and public health projects in Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela; as well as endogenous development projects in Cuba.