Operation Miracle Benefits Nicaraguans
Fifty Nicaraguans from the Caribbean coast, including Miskito indigenous people, departed for Havana on Tuesday as part of the Operation Miracle s free ophthalmology program.

This 14th flight 14 of the assistance plan, sponsored by the Venezuelan and Cuban governments, took some 50 patients from the Nicaraguan Caribbean to Havana to be operated on for such illnesses as cataracts or eye growths.

Some 900 people suffering from poor vision have been assisted this year by doctors from the Island, in the context of the solidarity air link between both Latin American nations.

Assistant Managua Mayor Alexis Arguello thanked the Cuban authorities, especially President Fidel Castro, for the aid offered to his compatriots in great need of assistance.

The official praised Cuba s developed public-health system and the Cuban experts professionalism, thus Operation Miracle is and will always be a resounding success, he said.

Robert Sharp, coordinator of the solidarity campaign in Managua, told Prensa Latina on behalf of the Caribbean communities, that the ophthalmic program in the coastal region has had a great positive impact.