Patient asks for visa to Venezuela because his doctor's there.

Por: Ernesto Roque Cintero. UPECI

An ailing patient hung a sign outside his residence in Old Havana last week seeking permission to travel to Venezuela to see his doctor who was sent there under a Cuban-Venezuelan exchange agreement.

Juan Pita Page, 72, said his doctor was unable to operate on him for a vision problem because he was dispatched to Venezuela along with other doctors.

Pita's sign said: "A transfer to Venezuela needed as the doctor who was going to operate on me is there."

A neighbor said that minutes after the sign was placed, the area police chief, the head of the block committee, a representative of Poder Popular and a family doctor were on the scene. They promised that Pita’s condition would be looked after.

Some 10,000 Cuban doctors have been sent to Venezuelan under an agreement between Fidel Castro and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Havana, Cuba 10/14/05