In brief
In Turin, Deputy Minister Julio Guerra Izquierdo held a meeting with Mayor Michela Favaro and Council President Maria Grazia Grippo on November 5, 2026, to reaffirm solidarity over U.S. blockade effects. Discussions covered Cuba’s healthcare challenges, a medicine collection initiative, and procurement of an emergency generator for a Santiago de Cuba hospital. The meeting also set the stage for a public forum on the blockade’s impact on Cuban medicine and energy supplies.
On November 5, 2026, Cuban Deputy Minister of Public Health Julio Guerra Izquierdo met with Turin’s Deputy Mayor Michela Favaro and Council President Maria Grazia Grippo to reinforce solidarity amid the U.S. economic blockade. The meeting took place in Musy Hall of the Civic Palace. In the discussion, Guerra Izquierdo outlined the severe shortage of power in Cuban hospitals, while Turin officials recalled a March resolution by the City Council supporting Cuban citizens against the blockade’s oil and energy crises.
Turin’s City Council’s publication CittAgora confirmed that Guerra Izquierdo led “Henry Reeve” medical brigade in Turin during the early COVID‑19 emergency. The officials agreed that the Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba (AICEC) would help collect medicines, using municipal pharmacies in Turin.
The delegation also highlighted a project to procure an emergency electric generator for the hospital in Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba; its shipment is scheduled for the coming days, according to the meeting notes.
The meeting concluded with plans for a public forum titled “Healing Under Siege: The Blockade and the Cuban Healthcare System,” featuring the Cuban Deputy Minister, neurosurgeon Peggys Cruz Pérez, AICEC representative Roberto Forte, and Giorgia Vernetti of the “Let Cuba Breathe” initiative.
The event and the planned public meeting were confirmed by the Turinese officials cited in Prensa Latina’s report, with no contradictory accounts reported at this time.
