giovedì, giugno 08, 2006

NOTHING CAN DENT THE LOVE OF THE LEFT FOR COMMUNIST CUBA

NOTHING CAN DENT THE LOVE OF THE LEFT FOR COMMUNIST CUBA

The following is a program promo for SBS -- one of Australia's public broadcasters. No bias there at all of course. It appears that viewers will hear of Cuba's system for earning dollars by selling cheap medical services to foreigners but no mention of the medical care that Cubans get seems to be in the offing. Straight cold-war propaganda lives on -- courtesy of the taxpayer

"For almost half a century Cuba has endured crippling sanctions imposed by its near neighbour the United States. But this tiny Caribbean nation has not only survived but achieved the unthinkable. It has had made major medical breakthroughs and now has a medical report card that is the envy of its most of its neighbours. Last year, Cuba's infant mortality rate declined even further. It now equals many developed nations but has surpassed that of the United States.

America, the largest medical market in the world, has responded, by accusing Cuba of trying to make money out of medicine. Health and medicine are indeed big business in Cuba. This year, monies raised from health tourism and from its biotechnology breakthroughs look set to surpass Cuba's traditional economic mainstay which has been tourism.

But Cuba's medical miracles are not confined to homeshores. A legion of medical missionaries have been sent to work overseas and the United States is concerned what impact that is having on the region."