The celebration was hosted by the brigade of Cuban volunteer doctors, nurses, and medical technicians who are providing free, quality health care in cities and towns throughout this African country. Among the participants in the event were five Equatorial Guinean students who in September will be starting a six-year program to become doctors. They will be attending the medical school led by Cuban doctors in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.

The evening’s program focused on the international campaign to demand the release of five Cuban revolutionaries jailed in U.S. prisons on frame-up charges. Several of the Guinean students presented biographical sketches of each of the five. The photo above shows one of the students, Fátima Patabobe, at the microphone. Guinean youth who graduated from the medical school have organized a committee here that sponsors educational activities on the campaign for the freedom of the five Cubans.

—MARTÍN KOPPEL