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Castro offers free eye care to poor U.S. citizens
By caribbeannetnews/AFP
Updated Feb 14, 2006 - 12:32:00 PM

HAVANA, Cuba (caribbeannetnews/AFP) - On January 22, President Fidel Castro invited U.S. citizens too poor to afford eye care to come to Cuba for treatment. He even offered to send an airplane to Florida to fly patients to Cuba.

Cuba and Venezuela, led by President Hugo Chavez, have included Americans in their “Operation Miracle,” which offers free eye treatment to six million Latin Americans over 10 years.

“I wonder if (the U.S. government) will authorize our plane to pick them up in Florida, or if they prefer that they stay blind,” Pres. Castro said. He also noted that Cuba would be able to perform 150,000 eye operations “for the impoverished people of the United States.”

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