MIAMI, United States.- The photographic exhibition La Mano Esclava, a denunciation in images of the Cuban health system and the so-called medical missions of the Havana regime, was inaugurated this Friday at The Art Space gallery, on the iconic Calle de Ocho de Miami.
Graphic images of hospitals and patients who are victims of medical care on the island, in addition to some videos taken inside health institutions, make up this exhibition, which is part of a project that includes the presentation of the documentary The Witness Project and a closing discussion.
La Mano Esclava, a joint effort between the Umbrella Art Foundation, the Victims of Communism Foundation and Outreach Aid to the Americas (OAA), aims to expose the reality of Cuban medical missions from a documentary and artistic perspective, “a very harsh reality and dark, although many people have the wrong idea,” said Javier Peña, director of OAA.
“The Cuban regime has sold the idea of medical missions for many years as a act of solidarity, but in reality it is a huge scheme to bring millions and millions of dollars into the coffers of the government in Havana. That is why they export doctors, nurses, specialists”, he denounced.
Regarding the exhibited works and the artists behind what is on display in Miami today, Miami-based Cuban curator and activist Ana Olema expressed: “the great artist is the citizenry.”
“Part of La Mano Esclava was trying to find artists who were working on medical issues, who were documenting Cuban hospitals and medical institutions with professional photographs, however, that does not exist, there is an aesthetic void in that territory because it is a sacred territory for the Castros. First, because economically it is very important to them and, second, because ideologically it is one of their pillars,” said Olema.
“That is why the images that have been obtained come from citizens, who have been documenting this reality with their tools and from their point of view. And our task was to turn that into something else, and bring it to the world of art”, he sentenced.
As part of the activities attached to the exhibitionthis Saturday, August 6, in the same gallery, the documentary The Witness Project will be screened, directed by Diddier Santos and which tells the story of Yohanna Arronte Cuellar, a Cuban doctor who escaped from a medical mission.
The screening of the documentary will also feature the participation of Cuban-American researcher María Werlau, in a panel that will discuss the situation faced by health professionals who are exported by the communist regime in Havana.
During the closing of the event, a conversation will take place with analysts, artists and activists who are inside Cuba and in exile, as well as testimonial videos of Cuban doctors.
Organizations such as Prisoners Defenders have denounced on several occasions, and even before the United Nations, the conditions of slavery in which Cuban doctors work in the so-called internationalist missions of the island regime.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +1 (786) 316-2072, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
