Billboards welcoming the delegations accompanying dozens of heads of state attending the Group of 77 (G-77) Summit�the "South Summit" of the world�s developing nations�meeting in Havana April 12-14 carried a powerful message.

The signs show a stylized picture of a child and a house and a family. On top of the pictures, the words read: "There are 200 million homeless children in the world." On the bottom it says: "not one of them is Cuban."

"That�s a very powerful image, and so far as I can tell, an absolutely true one," Phyllis Bennis, of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), a Washington think tank, told The Final Call in an interview. "You don�t see homeless people, particularly you don�t see children."

Leaders of the governments meeting in this, the first gathering of the G-77 heads of state and government since the organization was formed in 1963, agreed, describing Cuba as an ideal setting for the meeting to discuss the globalization of the world economy, high technology in developing nations, and ways to increase cooperation among the poorer nations of the southern hemisphere, and between the South and the wealthier North.

Leaders from African countries in particular, where Cuba has a history of fighting in the anti-apartheid struggle, both militarily and politically remember and respect the Cuban contribution to Africa�s independence, Ms. Bennis said. "More than that, what (the Cubans are) really know for is doctors, much more than soldiers."

All over Africa, there are Cuban doctors who have worked for years, she pointed out. There are even six medical colleges that have been established on the continent to train African doctors, by Cubans, in Cuban-built facilities, with virtually all Cuban faculties doing the teaching.

In addition, she continued: "one of the most amazing new projects I saw in Cuba, is the Medical College of the Americas." The school is only about one year old, and it occupies the space formerly used as the Cuban Naval Academy. Cuban doctors who were all over Latin America and Central America after Hurricane Mitch two years ago began pressuring to do something that would be more long-lasting than the simple emergency aid they had rendered.
--Askia Muhammad