About 110 Costa Ricans left yesterday for Caracas, Venezuela, where they will undergo surgeries to repair vision problems including cataracts and pterygium, a fleshy tissue that grows over the cornea, according to a statement from the Venezuelan Embassy in San José.

Miracle Mission is a project of the Bolivian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) that began in 2004 and is led by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela.

This is not the first group of Costa Ricans to participate in Miracle Mission – so far 300 Costa Ricans have benefited.

As part of this “mission,” a team of Venezuelan doctors traveled a few days ago to a rural community in northern Costa Rica, where they pre-examined more than 90 patients who are now scheduled to undergo surgery, the statement said.

Another 160 people interested in taking advantage of the program visited the embassy to get more information.

The program aims to help people with limited economic resources. The Venezuelan government covers all costs involved, including bringing the patients to Venezuela and returning them to Costa Rica, hospitalization, food, surgery and medicines.