Havana – A total of 246 medical students in Timor-Leste received their degrees today in that nation as a part of a joint project between the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba and the National University in that Asian country.

According to Timor-Leste Embasssy in Havana, 71 nursing students also received their diplomas in Dili, as did five students in the specialty of gynecology and obstetrics.

Five classes of students, for a total of 798 doctors, have earned their degrees through this project, which began in February 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during the celebration of Non-Aligned Movement summit.

On that occasion, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, at that time President of Timor-Leste and currently Prime Minister, and Jose Ramos Horta, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, met with the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

The three leaders agreed to start a cooperation project in which Cuba would train 1,000 doctors from Timor-Leste with the support and the experience of Cuban health professionals.