That’s exactly what a secret Castro agent would say!
You’re the person who is “not defending Castro” by claiming that his personal wealth doesn’t count if the wrong newspaper reports on it and cheerfully explaining that he just made the tough choice to enslave his country’s population.
I didn’t say it was in the wrong newspaper. I said the article was…wait a sec. You just quoted it so you know what I said.
Uh, no. The ‘citizens’ benefited by having all those skilled personnel around (mostly trained at public expense). Developing countries which allow free migration end up losing a lot of their most educated and technically skilled people, which holds back development.
The result is in the Cuban health statistics.
Lebanon has net immigration ??!
Spain has been trying to attract young professionals from Latin American countries for awhile now, I don’t know with how much success. Qatar and the UAE are of course major immigration destinations because oil.
Look at how big the cotton crop is!
You’re comparing cotton crops to health care?
Anyway, you are a little off base. Not being allowed to leave the country is not the "exact same " as slavery. It just isn’t. Doctors can drive cabs if they want, they just can’t move to Florida.
…and in the prisons and psychiatric hospitals full of political prisoners and dissidents.
Uh, no… what? “Free individuals” don’t get to decide for themselves where they want to live? Remember, we are talking about “free individuals”. How are you defining “free”?
Thanks to Syria’s world-high net outflow, they do:
450,000 refugees entering a nation of 4.4 million skews the numbers quite a bit.
Well how does it compare to (free and/or capitalist) countries in the region wrt political prisoners?
Think he was responding to the “clearly indicated that the state was more important than the citizens.” part.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics. You do know that Cuba provides those numbers to WHO, right?
But yeah, Cuba has a lot of Doctors, and for a third world nation, their health care is very good.
Thye also have problems too:
"By the time I moved to Cuba in 1997, there were serious shortages of medicine - from simple aspirin to more badly needed drugs.
Ironically, many medicines that cannot be found at a pharmacy are easily bought on the black market. Some doctors, nurses and cleaning staff smuggle the medicine out of the hospitals in a bid to make extra cash.
Although medical attention remains free, many patients did and still do bring their doctors food, money or other gifts to get to the front of the queue or to guarantee an appointment for an X-ray, blood test or operation.
If you do not have a contact or money to pay under the table, the waiting time for all but emergency procedures can be ridiculously long.
Many Cubans complain that top-level government and Communist Party officials have access to VIP health treatment, while ordinary people must queue from dawn for a routine test, with no guarantee that the allotted numbers will not run out before it is their turn…I saw many hospitals where there was often no running water, the toilets did not flush, and the risk of infections - by the hospital’s own admission - was extremely high. "
So, yeah- if I needed some simple care for like strep throat or a broken bone, and had some hard cash to get a place first in line and buy the needed drugs Cuban health care is damn good. But they simply dont have the infrastructure for really up to date high tech procedures.
Dont get me wrong- for a third world nation, Cuba is just about the best in health care. But there are problems and issues, and the truth is not so simple.
I don’t know who would consider living an extra 1.5 years in an open-air prison to be so great, anyhow. Keeping people alive under the Castro regime is just torturing them longer.
That wouldn’t make any difference.
Let’s take a gander at the rest of the region. Excluding nations with no Human Rights Watch entry, we have:
Haiti - no mention of political prisoners.
Colombia - no mention of political prisoners.
Venezuela - no mention of political prisoners as, though reprisals against those who criticize the government is described.
Guatemala - no mention of political prisoners.
Honduras - no mention of political prisoners, though political interference with the judiciary is described.
Ecuador - no mention of political prisoners as such, though strict laws governing free expression are described, along with political interference with the judiciary.
Cuba alone has an HRW entry titled “Political Prisoners”.
@John Mace: What you posted did not address state vs citizen. So yeah, it makes a difference.
Human Action, I’m a little surprised at zero political prisoners in the entirety of central America and the Caribbean save Cuba But hey, I’m no expert.
Does the US really want Cuba to free up its emigration policies? Or would we prefer that we have time to modify our current policies? IIRC, we still have that rule that gives preferential treatment to Cubans fleeing the horror or socialized daiquiris. So, if Cuba said “Sure, get on any boat you want, and go wherever you like!”, is that really a policy we want to encourage?
Maybe we could let all of America’s “progressives” go live in their paradise and welcome anyone who wants to take their place.