Cuba's Deadly Cold Snap and the Promise of Government-Run Health Care

Meredith Jessup | January 22, 2010 12:53 PM

The Washington Post has an article out today, delivers some sad news out of Cuba:

HAVANA -- Twenty-six patients at Cuba's largest hospital for the mentally ill died this week during a cold snap, the government said Friday.
Human rights leaders cited negligence and a lack of resources as factors in the deaths, and the Health Ministry launched an investigation that it said could lead to criminal proceedings.

Very tragic, indeed. However, the article continues:

Communist Cuba provides free health care to all its citizens but, though the quality of its medical system is celebrated in leftist circles around Latin America, it is also plagued by shortages. Patients are expected to bring their own sheets and towels and sometimes their own food during hospital stays.

So as these people sat in the hospital and froze to death, I wonder if Michael Moore would like to reaffirm his support for Cuba's wonderful health care system. Naw, he'd probably just join the Castro government in blaming the imperialist devil United States for the whole thing:

The government blames the shortages on the U.S. trade embargo, though the embargo does not prevent the direct sale of medicine or medical supplies to the island.