Hilda Molina
Encyclopedia
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
of Cuba. Molina was also a deputy in the Cuban National Assembly but has been a critic of the Cuban government since the early 1990s. Her criticisms focus primarily on Cuba's state-governed healthcare system.
In 1987, Molina founded the neurosurgery center in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. By 1991, her center had become one of the most important scientific centers in Cuba. The same year, Molina claims she was informed by the then Minister of Health, Julio Teja Perez, that her center was henceforth to treat foreigners paying in U.S. dollars. Previously, the center had treated only Cuban patients. Dr. Molina subsequently resigned her position at the center and her seat at the National Assembly. Molina claims that she and her son were subjected to mob retaliation in what are termed "acts of repudiation". She had continuously been denied a visa to travel for personal as well as professional reasons until June, 2009 when permission was granted to visit family in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Requests for travel
Dr. Molina has made many requests to visit family members residing in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. In 2004, after Molina was again denied a visa by the Cuban government. This letter from Dr. Molina was forwarded to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other international human rights groups. In the letter Molina stated: "The Cuban government impeded me from temporarily visiting Argentina for a reunion, after 11 years of forcible separation, with my son, who is a naturalized Argentine, and with his wife who is an Argentine citizen". She also listed numerous examples where she believed her rights had been violated by the Cuban authorities going on to state that "the arbitrary state organs that delay or deny, provoking the tearing apart of thousands of innocent families, that submerges them in paralyzing fear, so they are incapacitated to reclaim the respect for their rights most elemental."http://www.bradynet.com/bbs/argentina/100105-0.html
In July 2006, a week before Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's illness led to the Cuban transfer of presidential duties
2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties
The 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties was a transfer of duties of the Cuban presidency from Fidel Castro to the first vice president, his brother Raúl Castro, following Fidel's operation and recovery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to be diverticulitis...
to brother Raúl Castro
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
, the Cuban President
President of Cuba
--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...
was questioned by international leaders and journalists on the issue whilst attending a conference in Argentina. Argentine President
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
took the opportunity to press the Cuban leader to allow surgeon Hilda Molina, a one-time Castro ally, to leave Cuba to be with her children and grandchildren already in Argentina.http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15114410.htm At an improvised press conference, Miami's Channel 41 reporter Juan Manuel Cao asked Castro about Molina, a reportedly infuriated Castro asked the reporter, "Who is paying you?" and later accused him of being "a mercenary" for President Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/139729.
In June 2009, it was reported that Cuban Government reversed its position and that Molina will now be allowed to visit Argentina.
Dr Molina's story was inspirational to Marcos Aguinis
Marcos Aguinis
Marcos Aguinis is an Argentine psychiatrist, writer and columnist.- Background :Marcos Aguinis was born in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1935 the son of a Romanian Jewish immigrant...
best selling Novel "La Pasion Segun Carmela" (in Spanish) http://www.aguinis.net
Biography
External links
- The Effect of Travel Restrictions on Scientific Collaboration Between American and Cuban Scientists
- Cuba Dissident Wins Freedom by The Australian, June 15, 2009