In the reams of fiction generated from within and outside Cuba, probably
none equals the supposed "excellent" healthcare system on the island. It is
true that some good health care is available, but only for the elite who can
pay for it with hard cash and for the communist hierarchy and military
commanders. Everyone else is forced to take what little he or she can get.
Liberals blame the American economic blockade of Cuba for its economic woes
and substandard health care for ordinary Cubans. The Cuban American National
Foundation interviewed a group of Cuban doctors who had managed to get out
of Cuba and come to the United States. They told the organization they were
"mystified" by claims in a report from the American Association for World
Health blaming the U.S. embargo for Cuba's health care struggles. According
to the Cuban doctors, "we . . . can categorically and authoritatively state
that our people's poor health care situation results from a dysfunctional
and inhumane economic and political system, exacerbated by the regime to
divert scarce resources to meet the needs of the regime's elite and foreign
patients who bring hard currency."
Castro's brother, Raoul, has been handed the reins (or in this case chains)
of power, so little is likely to change in the near future. However, if
President Bush is right about all people wanting freedom, then the ultimate
collapse of communism in Cuba is as certain as its collapse in Eastern
Europe. The question is what comes next and will the United States learn
from its previous mistakes in dealing with Cuba, or will it repeat them,
causing further damage to U.S. interests in Latin America? One hopes history
will not repeat.
The best thing that could happen in Cuba is for the regime to collapse.
Then, properly restored, Cuba could become an engine for democracy that,
instead of fueling revolution throughout Latin America, would be part of
what President Kennedy called an Alliance for Progress that would promote
economic growth and human freedom throughout the region.