An old interview conducted with one of the Cuban doctors kidnapped in Kenya in 2019 revealed that the doctors were aware of the risks of working in the conflict zone, but they continued to do so because those were the orders they received from the regime.
As indicated by surgeon Landy Rodríguez Hernández during an interview with the Kenyan media Citizen TV, Upon learning that his next mission would be in an area near Somalia, he dedicated himself to finding out about the current situation in the region with the help of the Internet, thus learning about the extremist jihadist group Al-Shabaab.
“I know that it is a very dangerous county because of Al-Shabaab attacks,” he said between nervous laughs a year before being kidnapped by this same group along with doctor Assel Herrera Correa.
“Working in extreme conditions, these doctors have overcome their initial fears and have adapted to local life and culture, even learning the Swahili language, to be able to communicate better with their patients,” said the local press.
The report claims that the doctors were highly appreciated by the community, which could have given them a false sense of security. In that sense, this could have led to them lowering their guard and not demanding sufficient measures from the regime to guarantee their security in the conflict zone, where several doctors from other countries have refused to work due to the violence that lives.
For his part, Herrera Correa, originally from Las Tunas, indicated that he had been in other countries where he had also noticed some episodes of violence, working under difficult conditions.
“Although I also have good experience working in several countries, Venezuela and Brazil, in very difficult conditions.”
It was allegedly Herrera’s body that was photographed by the extremist group last week to report on his alleged death after a bombing in Somalia.
Until now, the rumors of the death of these doctors have not been confirmed, since the only source is the jihadist group.
In this regard, the Cuban government sent the president of the National Assembly, Esteban Lazo, to Kenya, to find out about the situationbut it is difficult to imagine that the veteran can do anything about it to confirm the information, since the regime spent almost five years without even being able to find out the location of the doctors.
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