Havana, November 17 (RHC)-- Roberto Morales Ojeda, vice-president of the Cuban Council of Ministers, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and Public Health Minister José Angel Portal Miranda welcomed on Saturday evening the first group of Cuban health workers who were working in Bolivia.

Some 224 aid-workers returned to Cuba on this first trip, out of more than 700 who were working in the South American nation as part of the bilateral medical collaboration program.

After the arbitrary detention of several health collaborators, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on the decision to withdraw all aid-personnel to Cuba.

The Cuban Medical Brigade spent 13 years in different parts of the Bolivian geography, where it saved lives and gave back or improved the eyesight to around 700 thousand people.