Cuba persists in the search for answers about kidnapped doctors

Havana, Apr 12 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said today that efforts continue to clarify the situation of the doctors kidnapped in Kenya, Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodriguez Hernandez, who were carrying out an internationalist mission.

April 12, 2025 | 08:37

Rodríguez recalled in X that this Saturday marks six years since the kidnapping of the Cuban doctors and assured that the search for answers has the permanent attention and commitment of the highest level of the Communist Party and the Government.

Surgeon Landy Rodríguez Hernández and general practitioner Assel Herrera Correa were kidnapped on April 12, 2019 in the Kenyan city of Mandera, on the border with Somalia, and targeted by the Somali group Al Shabaab.

On February 17, 2024, news was received of the alleged death of the doctors, victims of an airstrike on February 15 carried out by U.S. military forces operating in Somalia.

As reported at the time by the Foreign Ministry, despite the multiple efforts made by the Cuban government, it was not possible to obtain information or evidence that would allow definitive conclusions to be reached and clarify whether the doctors are still alive or confirm their death.

What was possible to specify is that on the night of February 15, the Africa Command of the United States armed forces, responsible for operations in Somalia and other nations of the continent, executed an air strike in the area where the Cuban doctors were.

"Given the nature of the conflict in Somalia and the impossibility of achieving confirmation, in recent weeks the government of Cuba repeatedly requested, through direct communications and diplomatic notes to the government of the United States, precise information on the events that occurred," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At the insistence, the text detailed, the northern nation confirmed that an attack took place in the area where the doctors were, but without precise clarification regarding the locality.

According to the source, the United States did not respond with the urgency or seriousness required.

Arc/MKS