Cuba's policy of medical internationalism still remains a great mystery for many, despite its existence for fully five decades, and a record that puts the 'developed' world to shame. Perhaps this is because it is not presented as 'aid', but rather as cooperation, and humanitarian solidarity-a concept which the industrialised nations and their paternalistic approach fail to understand. By far the largest degree of medical cooperation is found in Venezuela, where in March 2010 there were 29,255 Cuban medical personnel, including 11,322 doctors ('Médicos cubanos' 2010). There is a substantial body of literature published on this decade-long relationship, although sadly it has been reduced to the simplistic concept of a 'doctors for oil swap'. This article seeks to trace the evolution of bilateral cooperation between Venezuela and Cuba, to provide an analysis of these close ties, and to explore the nature of the medical cooperation that is such a key to the relationship.
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