Diabetic says ironically will have to go to Venezuela for treatment.

By: Ana M. Perdigón. *

Erick Pérez Lara, who suffers from chronic diabetes, says ironically that he'll have to go to Venezuela to get his needed treatment.

Pérez Lara said he needs an insulin injection every four hours and that the local hospital is supposed to provide him with all the material so he can treat himself at home: the drug, syringe, alcohol and cotton. He said the hospital now has only the cotton.

"He no longer wants to leave the house because he fears what might happen to him on the street," said his brother, Elvis. "It looks like he'll have to go to Venezuela for treatment."

Lara's remark was a reference to the thousands of Cuban doctors who have been sent to Venezuela under a Cuban-Venezuelan agreement.

* Sancti Spiritus Cuba. Cubanacán Press. 22/12/05