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America ; Honduras Rejects
25 Medical Scholarships From Cuba
Keralanext,
India. April 19, 2005.
[America News] TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras- The
Honduran government rejected 25 out of 45
medical scholarships that Cuba's Latin American
School of Medicine offered to Honduran students,
officials said Monday. Honduran Health Minister
Merlin Fernandez said they were trying to
"reorient the program" with Cuba
and that they only wanted "to prepare
laboratory technicians, anesthesiologists
and other specialties that the country's
health service needs."
At least 650 Hondurans have studied at
the Latin American School of Medicine since
1999.
The rejected scholarships prompted speculation
that the Honduran government had been pressured
by Honduras' Medical College, which has
at least 5,000 professionals, and the U.S.
Embassy in Tegucigalpa. But Fernandez said
no such pressure exists.
Tensions between Honduras and Cuba have
been running high since 2004 when Honduras
sponsored a resolution at the U.N. Human
Rights Commission criticizing the communist-run
island's human rights record.
Honduras still hasn't designated an ambassador
to Cuba, however.
On Thursday, Honduras aligned itself with
the United States in condemning Cuba again
before the commission for violating public
freedoms.
Honduras re-established full diplomatic
relations with Cuba in January 2002, under
former Honduran President Carlos Flores,
after breaking with Cuba in 1961 when Castro's
government was expelled from the Organization
of American States.
Honduras still hasn't designated an ambassador
to Cuba, however.
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