HAVANA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday met with the family of one of the two Cuban doctors abducted along the Kenyan border with Somalia in April and expressed his support.
"We met and had a fond talk with the family of doctor Landy Rodriguez. We expressed our encouragement and affection in such a difficult situation. It's a hardworking and humble family that we should all support," the Cuban leader tweeted.
Diaz-Canel last week also met with the family of Assel Herrera, the other Cuban doctor kidnapped in Kenya and taken over to Somalia by suspected al-Shabab militants.
In that meeting he said Havana "works tirelessly" to bring the two kidnapped doctors back home safe.
Effort to secure the release of Rodriguez and Herrera are continuing, said the Cuban Ministry of Public Health earlier this month, calling it "a complex process that requires time and discretion."
Diaz-Canel recently spoke by phone with his counterparts in Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Somalia, Abdullahi Mohamed, to coordinate efforts to recover the doctors, who appear to have been kidnapped by the extremist group al-Shabab, which operates in the border area.
The two doctors, who were treating patients in Mandera county on the Kenyan border with Somalia, were ambushed on April 12 by armed men in an attack.
Cuba began its medical cooperation with Kenya in June 2018, with a brigade of 101 doctors working throughout the African nation.
