A total of 6 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean will receive free eye treatment thanks to Venezuela's Mision Milagro (Miracle Mission), President Hugo Chavez said Thursday.

"Throughout history over thousands of years, I doubt there has been a humanitarian operation on this scale," Chavez told a gathering of thousands of so-called "missionaries": the people who will care for the people suffering from eye problems.

Mision Milagros, a joint Cuban-Venezuelan organization offering free eye treatment to needy patients, began by serving only Venezuelans but is now available to all Latin Americans.

It is one of the social projects launched alongside Mision Habitat, Mision Ribas, Mision Milagro and others to boost standards of living, education and health.

In March, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said dozens of Guatemalans were among the first to benefit from the program, to be followed by 100 Central Americans in the month to receive eye operations including cataract treatment.

Source: Xinhua