{"id":2534,"date":"2020-08-05T22:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T22:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/?p=2534"},"modified":"2020-08-05T22:12:48","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T22:12:48","slug":"the-work-of-the-henry-reeve-brigade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/the-work-of-the-henry-reeve-brigade\/","title":{"rendered":"The work of the Henry Reeve Brigade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eileen Whitehead<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Henry Reeve was born in Brooklyn, New York on 4th April, 1850 to Presbyterians, Alexander Reeve and Maddie Carroll. In his youth, he was a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865. Being a fierce abolitionist, and learning of the anti-Spanish uprising from Cuban revolutionaries in New York, he left home and became involved in the expedition of the Vapor Perrit, which landed 269 volunteer Cubans in Nipe Bay in 1869. He then joined Cuba\u2019s Army of Liberation (<em>Ej\u00e9rcito Libertador<\/em>) \u2013 also known as the Ten Years War \u2013 which ran from (1868-1878).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?resize=600%2C338&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?resize=388%2C220&amp;ssl=1 388w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soon after his first skirmish against the Spanish, Reeve was captured and imprisoned, and along with other fighters faced, and miraculously survived, a firing squad. Once recovered he was appointed assistant to General Thomas Jordan, the Chief of the General Staff of the Liberation Army, and in 1870, as Captain, joined the first cavalry squadron of the northern brigade of Camague under the command of Brigadier General Crist\u00f3bal Acosta. Reeve participated in over 400 engagements against the Spanish Army and received several injuries, amongst the most serious an abdominal wound in 1872 and in 1873, when Colonel, he received a serious leg wound, which disabled him for a year. After nearly six months convalescing, he was promoted to Brigadier General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During an important campaign between the territories of Columbus and Cienfuegos in August 1876, his horse was killed and rather than be taken prisoner he shot himself in the temple. During his military service, Reeve\u2019s bravery and care for his men produced a deep respect and love, with both Cubans and Spaniards knowing him as El Inglesito.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his honour in 2005, Fidel Castro renamed the Cuban medical brigade of humanitarian doctors, the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialised in Disasters and Serious Epidemics. Cuba had offered to send 1,586 doctors in response to Hurricane Katrina, but President George Bush, Jr had declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Castro maintained that the Henry Reeve Contingent could \u201cdo more than just help the population in the event of a hurricane, flood and other similar natural disasters. Certain epidemics represent real natural and social disasters. Suffice it to mention, the Haemorrhagic Dengue, which is attacking a growing number of countries in Latin America, and whose symptoms are particularly fatal to children, and other old and new grave illnesses. We can and must find the most efficient ways to combat these diseases. There is a particularly terrible epidemic (let\u2019s call it that) which has the world in its grip: HIV-AIDS. It is threatening to wipe out entire nations and even vast continental regions.\u201d He went on to say: \u201cWe are offering to train professionals who are prepared to struggle against death. We shall prove that there is a solution to many of the planet\u2019s tragedies. We are proving that man can and must better himself. We are proving the value of conscience and ethics. We are offering life. Long live the protectors of life who graduate today; long live the doctors capable of defeating death. Long live the glorious \u2018Henry Reeve\u2019 International Contingent!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March 2020, 144 health workers from this Henry Reeve brigade were sent by Cuba to assist Jamaica in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. More than 3,000 healthcare professionals from the Henry Reeve Brigade, including doctors and nurses have been deployed to about 30 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In addition to the brigade in Jamaica other countries receiving Cuban assistance include South Africa, Italy, Andorra, Qatar, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela and Haiti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cuban President Diaz-Canel observed \u201cIf we had globalised solidarity as the market was globalised, the story would be different\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2015, Norwegian unions nominated the Henry Reeve Brigade for a Nobel Peace Prize, in the context of its presence in West Africa to confront Ebola, but it was not awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since March a movement, led by Cuba Linda (France), Codepink (USA) and the US chapter of the Network in Defence of Humanity, formed to propose the nomination of the International Brigade of Doctors Specialised in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics \u201cHenry Reeve\u201d from Cuba, for the Nobel Peace Prize 2021, in recognition of their solidarity work to save lives in many countries around the world, particularly in the current COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Australian Solidarity movement has joined the movement for the nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We call on&nbsp;<em>Guardian<\/em>&nbsp;readers to add their signatures to request the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to consider including the Cuban doctors in next year\u2019s list of candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To sign go to&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cubanobel.org\/nobelcuba\" target=\"_blank\">www.cubanobel.org\/nobelcuba<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpa.org.au\/guardian\/2020\/1925\/14-brigade.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> <em>The Guardian<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eileen Whitehead Henry Reeve was born in Brooklyn, New York on 4th April, 1850 to Presbyterians, Alexander Reeve and Maddie Carroll. In his youth, he<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/the-work-of-the-henry-reeve-brigade\/\"> [&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101011,"featured_media":2535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2360,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/azerbaijan-receives-members-of-cubas-henry-reeve-medical-brigade-henry-reeve\/","url_meta":{"origin":2534,"position":0},"title":"Azerbaijan receives members of Cuba&#8217;s Henry Reeve medical brigade Henry Reeve","author":"Editorial Team","date":"July 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Azeri authorities received at the capital's Heydar Aliyev airport a contingent of 115 health specialists from the Cuban Henry Reeve medical brigade who will collaborate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cuban ambassador to this Caucasian nation, Alfredo Nieves Portuondo, together with senior executives from the Ministry of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Covid-19&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Covid-19","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/covid-19\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2885-medicos-azerbaiyan-1.jpg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2885-medicos-azerbaiyan-1.jpg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2885-medicos-azerbaiyan-1.jpg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2885-medicos-azerbaiyan-1.jpg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3601,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/derry-city-strabane-district-council-raise-unanimous-call-for-cubas-henry-reeve-brigade\/","url_meta":{"origin":2534,"position":1},"title":"Derry City &#038; Strabane District Council raise unanimous call for Cuba&#8217;s Henry Reeve Brigade.","author":"Editorial Team","date":"January 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"MEDIA ADVISORY - 28 Jan 2021 18:30 Councilor Donnelly in conversation with Dr Aleida Guevara in the Derry City Guild Hall in 2018. Dr Guevara is the daughter of the original architect of the Cuban health care system: Che Guevara. Councillor Gary Donnelly - member of the Derry Branch, Cuba\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Featured&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/news\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4667.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4667.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4667.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4667.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1887,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/ask-an-expert-john-kirk-on-the-global-role-of-cuban-medical-personnel-during-covid%e2%80%9119\/","url_meta":{"origin":2534,"position":2},"title":"Ask An Expert: John Kirk on the global role of Cuban medical personnel during COVID\u201119","author":"Editorial Team","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Michele Charlton - May 22, 2020 Cuban doctors have been in high demand around the world in recent months. (Photo by Matthias Oben from Pexels) Of all the front-line workers stepping up around the globe to help out in the fight against COVID-19, perhaps none have been called upon quite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cuba&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cuba","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuban-Flau.jpg?fit=579%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuban-Flau.jpg?fit=579%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuban-Flau.jpg?fit=579%2C350&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5324,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/for-the-sake-of-global-health-the-us-must-stop-lying-about-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":2534,"position":3},"title":"For the Sake of Global Health the US Must Stop Lying about Cuba","author":"Editorial Team","date":"October 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today a People\u2019s Peace Prize was awarded to Cuba\u2019s Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade \u2014 not the Nobel Peace Prize, although more than 100 organizations and 40,000 individuals from the U.S. alone supported the Henry Reeve Brigade\u2019s nomination. As the global community stumbled under the coronavirus assault, Cuba\u2019s army of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Featured&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/news\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/reeve.jpeg?fit=474%2C255&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1564,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/france-advocates-nobel-prize-for-cuban-solidarity-physicians\/","url_meta":{"origin":2534,"position":4},"title":"France advocates Nobel Prize for Cuban solidarity physicians","author":"Editorial Team","date":"April 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Paris, 28 Apr (Prensa Latina) The French association Cuba Linda advocated today for the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Cuban medical brigades Henry Reeve, deployed in more than 20 countries for the fight against the Covid-19.The international community is witnessing the solidarity of health professionals who leave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Opinions&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Opinions","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/opinions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/0-13-togo-medicos-cubanos-1.jpg?fit=840%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/0-13-togo-medicos-cubanos-1.jpg?fit=840%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/0-13-togo-medicos-cubanos-1.jpg?fit=840%2C470&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/0-13-togo-medicos-cubanos-1.jpg?fit=840%2C470&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1999,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/cuban-doctors-attend-more-than-26000-patients-worldwide\/","url_meta":{"origin":2534,"position":5},"title":"Cuban doctors attend more than 26,000 patients worldwide","author":"Editorial Team","date":"June 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The 26 brigades of Cuban doctors from the Henry Reeve Contingent who are working today\u00a0in about twenty countries, have so far treated more than 26,000 patients from Covid-19. The meeting of the Cuban government's temporary working group held this Tuesday, revealed that the health\u00a0professionals from the Caribbean island working in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Covid-19&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Covid-19","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/covid-19\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuba-medicos-1.jpg?fit=480%2C320&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xdTY-ES","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}