Op Ed

Cuba Is Open and Welcoming

And there’s a lot we can learn from their health care system.

By - Dec 28th, 2017 01:24 pm

And there’s a lot we can learn from their health care system. Back to the full article.

Photos - Page 4

Categories: Health, Op-Ed, Politics

15 thoughts on “Op Ed: Cuba Is Open and Welcoming”

  1. WashCoRepub says:

    Boy, if the Cubans are so thrilled with the healthcare system and how the rest of their system works, sounds like the Castros would have no problems getting re-elected then, right?

    Oh, wait…

  2. Jerrylee says:

    I️ was in Cuba during the Bush years (went thru Canada) and fell in love with the country and people! No homeless in the streets ….Free medical….Free Education… nothing fancy in housing but NOBODY SLEEPING IN DOORWAYS …. or begging for $$$$… this nightmare we are living in under this Nutcase in power makes Cuba seem a good place for 3 years or until we can get our country BACK

  3. agzela says:

    The U.S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine…The United States has typically been the largest supplier to Cuba and has had the highest market share of the island’s imports in nine out of the last 11 fiscal years. You call it it “sanctions” tell the truth….Cuba has very poor credit rating..it defaults often on loans the embargo states that any exports are “cash only” thus protecting us the taxpayers….

    https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/10/cuba-to-us-we-dont-want-your-food-000263

  4. Babette Plana says:

    Cuba is only open to those dispossessed of ethics and integrity, and the Castro dictatorship is definitely not welcoming to individuals who promote free expression of ideas and civil liberties. Cuba is a totalitarian police state that represses, detains, tortures and murders the political opposition. The posted article is typical Castroite propaganda replete with lies and half-truths. The Castro elites and tourists receive “good” healthcare; ordinary Cubans do not. In general, The Cuban healthcare system is rundown, bereft of resources, accomodating poorly trained doctors within crumbling, filthy hospitals and clinics. Abortion is routinely used as a form of contraception. Babies with developmental problems are aborted regardless of viability. The Cuban doctors sent abroad are slave laborers operating within a vast network of human trafficking orchestrated by the Castro regime. These doctors are paid a pittance in worthless pesos and live in deplorable conditions. They defect whenever the opportunity arises. Communist Cuba is a hell on earth. Down with the Castro dictatorship in 2018!!

  5. jerrylee says:

    Wow!..when were you last in Cuba? All of your observations are factually untrue ( “maybe alternate facts”) you need to visit Cuba and make your OWN observations…then respond accurately…..many of the “poorly trained doctors” are practicing life saving medicine all over the world including America saving the lives others do not care about!…SHAME ON YOU!

  6. Troll says:

    Average citizen makes $20 a month and has the second highest abortion rate after Russia. Sounds like parasites for the unborn

  7. ThyMe says:

    There is a saying that false pre-judgement is a prison in which individuals trap themselves out of fear of the limitless possibility of the human spirit.

    This seems to accurately describe the xenophobic way in which the stifled perspective of many Americans buy into the notion of American exceptionalism to hide from the fact that there may be achievements in other countries that we could learn from. While withholding a point for point contest between the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ of our respective countries, your perspective is a welcome one to myself and I’m sure many others who, like the desert rose that rarely sees rain, insight at the ‘ground’ or everyday lived perspective – from a nation so close but so hidden from our daily discourse, infuses our lives with a vantage point rarely seen.

    Thank you Art for your willingness to share your experiences and insight to enrich our lives with your thoughtful article and your tireless effort.

  8. agzela says:

    The problem is you people hate America so much that you think the cuban system (as a whole or part) is any way shape or form better….you have not lived it…..stop searching for perfection elsewhere… take it from this Cuban (with horror stories..do you have time to hear them?) My family and I lived through it in the 80s and 90s….Cuba to the rest of the world (yes you tourist) is a Potemkin Village…listen to those that know..I have lost too many family and friends on that Island.

  9. agzela says:

    FYI- Lookup Art Heitzer the writer of this piece….you will find it interesting how involved he is to prop up the cuban government….but in now way support the real heroes in Cuba the dissidents…

  10. agzela says:

    Cuba has a two tiered health care system one tier for the nomenklatura and foreign tourists with hard currency that offers care with modern equipment and fully stocked pharmacies, then there is a second tier which is for the rest with broken down equipment, run down buildings and rooms, scarce supplies, a lack of hygiene, the denial of certain services and lengthy wait times. Healthcare professionals are poorly paid and lack food.

  11. jerrylee says:

    Wow!…What a sad turn this topic’s taken…these opinions make me Damn Glad I live in the “Great State of California”!

  12. Babette Plana says:

    An article from the Cuban online journal 14ymedio, which reports on the facts within Cuba, and confirms the degradation of the Cuban healthcare system: “Official Data Confirm Degradation of Cuba’s Health System:

    http://translatingcuba.com/official-data-confirm-degradation-of-cubas-health-system/

    The facts, supported by verified data, research and eyewitness testimonials, cannot be refuted. Freedom and justice for the Cuban people!

  13. Babette Plana says:

    An article from the Cuban online journal 14ymedio, which reports on the facts within Cuba, and confirms the degradation of the Cuban healthcare system: “Official Data Confirm Degradation of Cuba’s Health System:

    http://translatingcuba.com/official-data-confirm-degradation-of-cubas-health-system/

    The facts, supported by verified data, research and eyewitness testimonials, cannot be refuted.

  14. Larraine says:

    I appreciated the article. I have never been to Cuba, but I would like to go sometime. I am sorry about the harsh personal attacks on the writer. What does that serve? Can we practice respect- especially for differing *ideas* based on experience?

  15. Babette Plana says:

    Larraine: The comments made by individuals with an opposing viewpoint were not personal attacks. The comments were respectful and based on truth. Did you read the link provided with facts about Cuba’s healthcare system by the independent journal 14ymedio operating courageously from Cuba? If you go to Cuba for tourism or business, you will be complicit in the human rights violations of the Castro dictatorship. You will be helping a totalitarian regime inflict atrocities on its populace. Is that moral? Is that ethical? No. Do the right thing! Read, and become informed about Cuba’s reality.

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