The Italian hospital that was never born, ended up in the hands of Ugo Di Martino, had at least one health director. He is a Venezuelan doctor who studied in Italy for a long time, works for the consulate and for this reason he was immediately involved by Ambassador Placido Vigo in that initiative which was supposed to be “beautiful, altruistic”. So he had entered the board of directors of the foundation “animated by the best intentions”, except to resign when the things have come crashing down. “After three years, only this foundation is left with no money or headquarters managed by a group of people with the name of Italy but who have nothing Italian. Not even the support of the Italian authorities ”, he says, requesting anonymity. He knew nothing of Di Martino’s past, of the minutes of the Reggio Calabria DDA which indicated him as the right-hand man of the former fugitive-fixer Aldo Micciché, linked to the ‘ndrine of Gioia Tauro. Those who know it now prefer not to expose themselves.
The context in which the story of the Italian hospital was born, culminating in a sort of “theft” at theItalian Embassy who had promoted him, is well described by the latter National report on Venezuelan hospitals and care servicesreleased on March 2 last, among which they also have to extricate themselves 150 thousand emigrants from Italy. “In real terms – we read – the possibility of not finding basic medicine for an emergency is close to 50%. If we look at emergency department supplies, it’s 70%, and that figure hasn’t changed since 2019.” The report documents a 70 percent shortfall in operating room supplies essential for surgery, including pain relievers and anesthetics. Nearly 60% of hospitals do not have running water. And this is what the doctor is talking about when he defines the Italian hospital as “awasted opportunity”.
“The public part of the hospital – he explains – was directly linked to the activity and funds for assistance to the poor in Venezuela, which are the responsibility of the Italian Consulate, in Caracas as in Maracaibo. The project responded to the needs of free assistance of all needy Italians and at the same time could offer care services to non-indigent Italians and Venezuelans at social rates, as do the other Italian hospitals in the world. Thus the paid part would also have contributed to the other and the hospital would have grown over time, also offering services to Venezuelan users”. So far the idea, noble, clean. “We searched for a long time for a place to set up a polyclinic, we made an initial agreement with theSan Juan de Dios Hospitalthen with the Clinica Santa Paula. But I left at that time because I didn’t agree on how this business was being managed”.
When you name it by Martin has a moment of uncertainty. “Does the current president of the Italian hospital say Ugo Di Martino or the one before who was his son Vincenzo Di Martino?”. The board changed several times, together with the statute that ousts embassies and consulates, cancels the shareholders’ meeting and concentrates all power in the hands of a few is a familiar story. “I don’t know much about politics but the Di Martinos were part of the Comites and this made them the natural referents for the hospital operation which was to involve the local community starting with its representatives. After all, the membership fees had to be used to finance the services and had to be sought among compatriots. This is what happened with the Italian hospital in Argentina or in Chile. It just didn’t work in Venezuela. I read the recent press release in which the Embassy dissociates itself from the hospital and complains that illegal things have been done. Well, I find this thing incredible: I’m Venezuelan and I studied in Italy, it seemed to me a wonderful thing to improve health conditions for everyone. Now I repeat, that foundation remains that makes agreements with private clinics. But it has nothing of Italian and of the original project”.