Chávez's medical diplomacy wins plaudits

[Judi Lynn]

Chávez's medical diplomacy wins plaudits
By Simon Romero Published: February 25, 2008



Nicaraguans recuperating last week on Margarita Island, Venezuela, after free eye
surgery received under Mission Miracle. (Scott Dalton for The New York Times)

PORLAMAR, Venezuela: Few places capture the disarray of this country's public health system like the Hospital Luis Ortega. Unconscious patients lie on cots strewn near the reception desk. Paint peels from walls neglected for years. Soldiers stand guard to prevent worried relatives gathered on the curb from bursting inside.

But in a recovery room tucked away at the end of a dim corridor, a group of Nicaraguan patients with patches over their eyes offers an insight into one of President Hugo Chávez's boldest and most successful health initiatives. Called "Mission Miracle" and now in its fourth year, it provides free eye surgery to Latin America's poor.

The evolution of the program into a symbol of Chávez's political movement across the region illustrates how Venezuela's leader is intensifying efforts to lift his government's profile abroad even he faces growing criticism at home over social problems like decaying hospitals and shortages of basic foods.

"Those who call Chávez a vulgar populist are wrong," said Julio Araoz, one of 96 Nicaraguans flown here to correct ailments that had left them partly or completely blind. Before doctors restored his vision in one eye on Monday, Araoz said he could barely stand to hear Chávez's name or that of his ally, President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.

"Now I salute Chávez and Ortega with profound gratitude and admiration," said Araoz, 40, a carpenter from the northern Nicaraguan city of Matagalpa who was suffering from pterygium, a vision-restricting condition commonly found in tropical climates. The procedure, which would have cost more than $1,000 in Nicaragua, cost him nothing here.

More:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/25/america/venez.php