The doctorEduardo Consuegra, current head of Pediatrics at the Salamanca Hospital, in Spain, recounted how he escaped from Cuba after refusing to collaborate on a medical mission during the conflict between the United States and Iraq.
In an interview forThe Gazette of Salamanca, theDr. Eduardo Consuegra, narrated the events that changed his life in the 1990s. His story of defiance and bravery against the Cuban regime begins when he refused to be part of a medical corps destined to support Saddam Hussein during 'Operation Desert Storm'.
Dr. Consuegra's refusal to be used as part of a political strategy of the regimeFidel Castro, which sought to express solidarity with Iraq, was interpreted as a "counterrevolutionary attitude."
This decision marked his destiny on the island. He was marginalized at work, lost the respect of his colleagues and began to suffer increasing pressure.
However, the courage and firmness of his convictions did not abandon him. He began collaborating with foreign embassies in Havana to earn some money, using his linguistic and medical skills.
The relatives of the patients he treated in the embassies of Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain and, finally, the United States, little by little began to value his medical knowledge and his friendship.
The collaboration with US officials unleashed the fury of the regime, which accused him of being an "agent of imperialism" and threatened him with serious consequences. The doctor's response to such accusations was defiant.
"At the American embassy they had a lot of kids who didn't know how to drive because their doctor traveled every 15 days and was not a pediatrician. They asked me to see them myself. I accepted, but after a while they summoned me from the Government of Cuba. I "They did an interrogation like in the movies," said Consuegra.
State Security accused him of having "contact with the enemy," but he responded that the people he met with were not enemies, but rather the opposite.
"They showed me photos in which I appeared with members of the American embassy. My response was that, in fact, those were my friends, because I choose my friends. The response made them feel very bad. They threatened to invalidate my titles as a specialist and putting me in prison," he said.
Thanks to the collaboration of diplomats from the embassies of Spain and Canada, in a scene that would seem taken from an espionage thriller, Dr. Consuegra managed to escape from Cuba, being chased by State Security to the plane steps.
In September 1996, accompanied by his family and protected by a Spanish passport, he boarded flight IB6620 to Madrid. Upon arriving in Spain he received political asylum and assistance from the International Red Cross.
From there, the Cuban pediatrician's focus was directed in one direction: to validate his medical degree, which he achieved after a demanding exam equivalent to the Spanish MIR. Their professional career then took them to hospitals in La Zarzuela, Canary Islands, Grupo Quirón in Barcelona and, finally, the Salamanca Hospital.
His story evokes successes, but also sacrifices and reminds us of the price of freedom and the power of human resilience.
After the exile, theDr. Eduardo Consuegra He found in Spain not only a place where he could practice his profession with dignity but also a second home. He says he does not miss Cuba and lives happily, integrated into Salamanca society. From time to time he meets with most of his Cuban family, but in Miami. He has never returned to his island.
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