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HAVANA, March 24 (Fara Armenteros, UPECI / www.cubanet.org) - Cuban
authorities last week shut down a medical dispensary operated in the town of
Pedro Betancourt, Matanzas province, by the Alternative Option movement, one of
several civil society initiatives targeted by the government in a series of
raids.
Security forces confiscated about 90 pounds of medicines, including
antibiotics, pain killers, and vitamins, said nurse Josefa López. Police
also confiscated medical supplies such as aerosol and oxygen equipment, physical
therapy equipment, and syringes and bandages.
"They even took medicines belonging to my daughter and husband, and
they left us without a penny. When I protested, they told me to complain to
State Security," said López.
According to López, 30 police and 25 State Security agents
participated in the operation. There were also about a hundred members of the
paramilitary Rapid Response Brigades around, shouting slogans and insulting the
dispensary's occupants.
The dispensary offered what services it could to the general population
without charge, handing out medicines donated by sympathetic groups abroad. In
many cases, the medicines delivered by the dispensary are not available in Cuban
government drug stores.
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