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Castro's Embargo ©
1997/2000 ABIP
by Agustín Blázquez
with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton
When Castro wants to
impress foreigners with health care in Cuba he shows them his showcase
hospitals (for foreigners and elite only). When he has another goal,
he shows them the real hospitals and the reality of his health care.
The American Association for World Health (AAWH) was exposed to the
latter when they were conducting a study of the impact of the US
embargo on the health of the Cuban people.
At a news conference
on March 3, 1997, the AAWH released the conclusions of their study
titled DENIAL OF FOOD AND MEDICINE: THE IMPACT OF THE US EMBARGO ON
HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN CUBA. This devastating report, in support of
Castro's latest goal, blasts the US embargo. But, it doesn't point out
an obvious contradiction: If the lack of medical supplies is due to
the embargo, how come the foreigners and elite only hospitals are so
well stocked?
In his dramatic
statement, Dr. Peter Bourne, former advisor on health issues to
President Jimmy Carter and currently AAWH's Chairman of the Board,
said that the "unintended consequences" of the US embargo is
causing "unnecessary suffering and deaths." But, if Castro
selectively distributes supplies and sells medicines donated by other
countries in dollars only stores, who is causing the unnecessary
suffering and deaths?
Page 22 of their
report states, "the embargo's biotech ban has hampered research
on a promising Cuban AIDS vaccine . . .." Castro has been doing
biotech research for decades and not one of his claimed successes has
panned out. In 1989, Cuba and Brazil signed an agreement for Cuba to
provide meningitis vaccines for $100 million. However, due to poor
quality, Brazil ended the agreement and dumped the Cuban-made vaccines
into the ocean.
A March 3, 1997
release from the New Cuban Coalition said that Castro's "economic
collapse is not the result of the US embargo, but an anticipated
outcome of the whimsical and inefficient management of Cuba's
resources and economy."
For example: In 1986,
Castro defaulted on his international obligations even though he was
heavily subsidized by the Soviet Union ($5-6 billion a year). From
1960 to 1990, Castro received $100 billion in Soviet subsidies and
close to 400 million tons of goods with a value of $104 billion. From
1970 on, Castro agreed to repay the Soviets a minimum of 5 million
tons of sugar a year, but that commitment was never honored. According
to the AAWH, the US should sell medical supplies to Cuba, but how
would they pay for what they would buy? What little Cuba has to export
is already being sold to other countries.
Dr. Alfredo Melgar,
M.D., who graduated in Cuba in 1989, and defected in 1994, said,
"If the embargo is the reason for Cuba's deteriorating health
care, why does it work for the tourists visiting Cuba under the Health
Tourist Program while the average Cuban citizen lacks the most
fundamental medicines and equipment?"
Dr. Melgar pointed
out that Castro's embargo was selective, "only affecting the
average Cuban. As a doctor I felt ashamed when visiting hospitals such
as Cira Garcia, Hermanos Almejeiras, or Topes de Collantes where
foreigners and Castro's elite enjoyed the use of the most advanced
medical equipment available." He and others express their
frustration in their practices outside the privileged hospitals, where
they have to struggle to combat lice and hepatitis epidemics, among
others, because of the rampant poor sanitation. "It's frustrating
not to have the means to cure a simple lice epidemic while in the
privileged hospitals, you find plenty of antibiotics, interferon and
the latest equipment such as CAT scan and MRI machines."
It's difficult to
accept this AAWH report as unbiased, considering that the Arca
Foundation was a sponsor. Arca, a private, non-profit charitable
organization established in 1952, encourages a "more open foreign
policy, based on respect for international law, human rights and
sovereignty of all nations," according to its Annual Report. But
for years Arca has been favoring Castro, unconcerned about his
disrespect for international law and the sovereignty of other nations,
and his crimes and violations of human rights.
In 1995, Arca granted
$680,000 to 23 projects dealing with Cuba (all pro-Castro); $50,000
went to AAWH for this report. And $5,000 to the Carter Center (Jimmy
Carter, publicly known detractor of the US embargo, is the Honorary
Chairman of AAWH) for assessing "current and past US-Cuba
relations and prospects for change through research and field visits
to Cuba." Contrasting with their fixation on Cuba, in 1995, Arca
granted just $217,000 for all the countries in Central America and the
Caribbean.
This appears to be
just another effort to discredit US policy, fostering animosity
against Clinton's efforts to seek international support for a free and
democratic Cuba and elimination of the most brutal embargo in Cuba's
history: Castro's embargo against his own people.
© ABIP 1997/2000
Agustín Blázquez, Producer/Director
of the documentaries COVERING CUBA
and CUBA: THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES |
