At the Cuban embassy in Damascus, the 16 young people were welcomed and given corresponding files and visas so that they can travel to Cuba in the coming days and join hundreds of other students from different countries of the world.

Today, we saw the 16 Syrian scholarship holders off, who are going to study medicine as part of the governmental cooperation and scholarship program Cuba offers to the world, Emilio Pevida, in charge of consular affairs, told Prensa Latina.

Pevida added the Syrian students will be trained as health professionals and will then return to their regions and help Syria and its people to provide a more quality health service.

According to Pevida, hundreds of students from Syria and other countries graduated from different specialties in Cuba, and he considered the scholarship plan is a pivotal pillar for Cuba-Syria relations.

He called on young people to study and make the most of knowledge and sciences, in addition to getting closer to Cubans who are warm, friendly and cheerful people.

In turn, Bassam Raja, the father of one of the students, claimed he studied in Cuba from 1980 to 1984, and praised that it is an honor his son studies in a country that has become a true power in medicine.

He lashed out at propaganda trying to defame Cuba and hoped his son would return to Syria after obtaining his degree to serve his people.

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