Guatemalan President Otto Perez highlighted the work of the Cuban physicians, and was pleased with the renewal of the Havana cooperation here through a subsidiary agreement signed early this month.

"The valuation we give about the work of the Cuban physicians is really important because they have come back to the rural area, where we need them most, where there is not a health center, or a clinic, or a hospital," Perez responded to a Prensa Latina question in Coban, 112 kilometers north of Guatemala City.

Cuban health professionals are working in those places. "They have come to encourage that spirit of service, even with all the lack of equipment that are often required."

The president also said that many Guatemalans are studying at the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).

The governments of Guatemala and Cuba strengthened medical cooperation with the signing of a subsidiary agreement between the Ministries of Public Health in both countries.

More than 650 Guatemalans have graduated from ELAM, founded in 1999 as an idea of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and currently some 300 Guatemalan residents are studying there.

The text of the agreement highlights the positive results during the years of bilateral cooperation in the health area 14 years ago, and recognizes the need to join forces in the fight against preventable blindness.