Yes, born and raised in Las Tunas," Dannier Ángel Luis Osorio proudly reaffirmed, and after the greeting imposed by the Covid-19 we began the conversation as two old acquaintances, something common when fellow countrymen are out of the country.

Caracas.- We exchanged addresses and I promised to tell part of the story of this young Cuban in the hills of Petare, to bring him closer to the streets of the Buena Vista neighborhood, to his family and friends, and to the halls and rehabilitation clinic of the Gustavo Aldereguía Polyclinic, where he worked before leaving to offer solidarity support to Bolivar's homeland.

We are in the backyard of La Suiza Integral Diagnostic Center (CDI in Spanish), more than 1,600 meters above sea level, where this facility stands as a symbol of the Bolivarian Government's concern for the health of its most vulnerable people and the friendship between Cuba and Venezuela.

YOUNG MAN AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS TIME

"At this moment, with the change the world has undergone due to the pandemic, I am not rendering my usual services, but I am fulfilling the Revolution in house-to-house searches and I feel proud to be face to face with this invisible enemy until he is defeated.

This is how Dannier Ángel thinks at 29 years of age, who since July 22 last year has been carrying out a mission of solidarity and of his own free will in this CDI, in the municipality of Sucre in the state of Miranda. Until the arrival of the COVID-19, he worked as a rehabilitator, very much in line with the specialty studied.

"In cases like this," he says, "fear is natural because one faces an invisible enemy - he reiterates - that can be lodged in any of the people we visit every day. We don't know for sure which one might be infected and which one might not, but that's what it's all about, distinguishing sick and healthy people and cutting the chain of spread. That is our goal.

Dannier acknowledges the usefulness of the change in work and considers it very important, "because there are people with symptoms who are afraid to go out, aware that they are a potential source of contagion and are afraid of being rejected by others. We reach them in their own homes and in suspicious cases, we follow the established protocol of safe isolation and efficient treatment.

"Some residents have told us that at the beginning of this battle they thought that the Cuban doctors would not approach them, but they have now changed their minds thanks to the behavior of all the collaborators, including other social missions that support us, and as courageous people they suffer the same fate.

He doesn't mind this health emergency to disrupt the professional routines, although he misses his patients. He knows the importance of this tireless search for SARS-CoV-2, "it is an option that cannot be postponed because this disease does not admit of waiting: we must go out to detect the pathogen wherever it is and we do so in compliance with the established biosecurity measures and the accompaniment of the comrades of the Francisco de Miranda Front, militia and community authorities who are the mobilizers of the neighborhood’s inhabitants.

The fear fades away, "because we have all the necessary means to protect ourselves and we are aware that if we observe the security measures: social distancing, use of the mask, gloves, glasses, gowns, protective suits, frequent hand washing..., we win this fight.

Before the farewell, Dannier gives a name to the forces, apparently intangible because of the distance, that encourages him in this crucial combat against an invisible enemy in the hills of Petare: "Cuban Revolution, for the opportunity to train me; Edan Visto and Ethan Daniel, my two children, 1-year-old and 52 days old, respectively, whom I miss very much and who fill me with reasons to continue fighting here."

Already in my retreat, he takes the floor to thank again the Revolution and the medical team that fought for two months for the survival of Edan Visto, who came prematurely to this world; and the accompaniment of his two brothers, his wife Enayre and the two families that give him peace of mind to fulfill his mission.