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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
December 24, 2007
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| November 20, 2007 |
Beyond Rum and Cigars – Cuba’s Achievements as a Communist State: Ezequiel Morales |
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Ezequiel Morales spoke passionately about Cuba and allowed participants to see a side of the communist nation not often reported in the mainstream media |
A place in which student loans and medical insurance are nonexistent sounds too good to be true, but that is the Cuba introduced by Ezequiel Morales, a former English professor who now works for the Cuban Institute of Friendship (ICAP). While onboard from the Canary Islands to Cuba, Mr Morales presented a picture of a self-contained and sufficient society built on the ideals of communism that has weathered several severe economic storms to emerge stronger and better. Although the society harbors many problems, especially related to tourism, such as the emergence of an upper class and an increase in prostitution, it has proven that aspects of communism can be congruent with reality. While images of rum and cigars linger in the minds of many when imaging Cuba, the nation is now known around the world for its sustainable and organic agriculture, energy conservation, its free education system and incredible public health system which is making positive changes both in Cuba and abroad. |
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| A wall in Havana bears the slogan “Live Fidel” |
For 48 years, Cuba has been led by Fidel Castro, a man with an unrelenting vision to secure communism in Cuba and challenge the world order. His motive to send 35,000 Cuban health professionals to 69 developing countries around the world has been criticized as national positioning. However, claims Mr Morales, ‘Whenever we do something, we feel it is a human obligation to do it, it’s not politically motivated.’ Cuba is home to the biggest medical school in the world where both Cubans and international students from mainly developing countries are trained. In fact, there are some 19,000 students from developing countries studying there on scholarship, and 30,000 students from African nations have graduated from the school. A small number of medical students from African American and Hispanic communities in the United States are also studying in Cuba on scholarships. After their studies, they will return to the United States to work in these communities. According to Mr Morales, ‘We are not a rich country, but we are rich in human resources, and that is what we share.’ |
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In lectures, Mr Morales highlighted the important role Cuban medical professionals are playing in improving the health of the world’s poorest people |
Health care in Cuba is free for all, and central to its success is the premise that a patient, whether they can afford it or not, has a right to be treated. ‘In Cuba, whenever a person is sick, they are a patient, not a client,’ Mr Morales stated. They have also placed a lot of emphasis on preventative medicine, eliminating malaria, polio, tetanus and meningitis from the country and boasting the lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America. Cuban doctors have succeeded in taking medicine out of the ivory tower and into the community, not only in Cuba but throughout Latin America and Africa where they work with remote communities. Pic C |
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| George Bush playing chess with terrorists symbolized by the Grim Reaper who asks ‘How about we make it even?’ |
Cuba’s current health care system is all the more impressive considering that the nation is still suffering under the 45 year old United States-imposed embargo. Despite the elements of communism that are working and allowing all Cubans to have their basic human rights of food, shelter, healthcare and education met, the embargo has significantly affected their quality of life as there are still shortages of such essential items as food, fuel, clothing, and medicine. However, instead of strangling the nation, the blockade has forced the Cubans to be inventive in order to adapt to the relatively austere conditions. It is evidently time, however, for Washington to reassess its foreign policy as this year when the United Nations General Assembly voted to lift the embargo, 184 countries supported lifting the blockade while only four voted against it – the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau. ‘We have relationships with 181 countries, so we are not as isolated as the United States intended. We are breaking away from diplomatic isolation – don’t forget that 184 countries support us,’ said Mr Morales. |
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| Mr Morales and Cuban dancer Ernesto Arminian Linares at Cuban Night which was held onboard |
On whatever fronts Cuba is criticized, its stellar public health care system is the envy of many nations, even those much wealthier than the island nation such as its imperialistic neighbor. Although it has been criticized for being built on values that conflict with reality, its successes both at home and abroad has proven that Cuba is capable of changing reality for the better. |
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