LAMENTO
SOCIALISTA EN CUBA AND LAMENTO CAPITALISTA EN MIAMI. SAME PEOPLE, EL MISMO LAMENTO, SAME LAMENT ON TWO SHORES
This
blog would consist of two parts
First
Lamento Socialista Socialist Lament by Cubans in Cuba and the second part,
Lamento Capitalista Capitalist Lament by Cubans in Miami
A
young medical student from Moa in the eastern part of Cuba wrote an email to
inform me that the state telephone company had an offer for phone and service
(SIM) for those who residing outside Cuba to buy for Cubans. (She thought it
was cheap!) 120 cuc or 140 usd, that
would enable a Cuban to get a line (normally valued at 40 cuc) plus a Samsung
phone (while the type was not specified, I can assure you it would be the one
that one can pick up in Miami for about 40 usd. So why is this excitement about
something intangible for Cubans? What is the purpose behind it?
I
wrote back, first of all 140 usd as a gift is not cheap (plus a moral
obligation to recharge at 25 dollars per month) for most outsiders, especially
Cubans who are living in Miami (as you would see in the next part of this blog)
That
made me think, what do the Cubans who live in the island consider cheap or
expensive.
Fundamental
categorization:
If
they are paying for it, it is always expensive.
If
they have pay in dollars (called CUC in Cuba) it is VERY expensive, as their
salaries are in Cuban Pesos
If
someone else is paying, it is considered definitely cheap. (Regardless of the
price).
Cuba
has very many economic necessities, mainly THINGS (no supermarkets, food and
kitchen items not easily available and not always available), but it has an
abundance of services which is offered free, which Cubans do not praise or
bring into discourse.
Cubans
will seldom talk about the services offered to them free of charge
Primarily
health related, free medical and hospital care, and on recommendations, rest
and recreations in spa like atmosphere at mountain or seaside resorts. I
personally know of the world class attention received by my Cuban friends in
the realm of Cardiovascular medicine (including angiogram within hours of first
chest pain), Ophthalmological care (with the latest Laser reduction of eye
size, with a month off to rest and recuperate), Gastroenterological (including
endoscopy), Urological (excellent care in prevention and treatment of prostatic
diseases) as well as Gynecological attention, with the whole person taken into
account.
We,
who are acquainted with the systems in poor or developing countries, know how
little attention the general population receives especially when they do not
have money to pay. In Cambodia, families loose their agricultural land when the
breadwinner is diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, as it requires cash payment for
tests and treatment, even in a country like Malaysia which is richer than many
of the developing countries, the attention to the poor and especially the
marginalized is extremely poor.
Why
don’t the Cubans laud their system, appreciate it and sing praise? Because they
have known only this system and are not aware of the capitalist system of
health care in many poor, developing and rich countries. My Uber driver who
took me to my sisters home on my arrival in Miami from Cuba, lamented that he
cannot afford to buy the medications and that he waits for his family to send
him medications from Cuba.
Studying
to become a doctor is absolutely free in Cuba and many of the current medical
students were they born in the USA wouldn’t have been able to dream about
becoming doctors. Hundreds of intelligent students in most of Latin America, Africa
and Asia cannot dream of becoming doctors because of the financial restrictions
and the lack of access even to information on how to become a doctor. I know
this first hand with my dealings in remote Brazil, Colombia among other
countries.
It
is not only Medical Education that is offered free, all education from Pre-K to
the doctoral level is offered free and the talented ones take advantage of it.
Those who throw away their chances of studying in Cuba are primarily engaged in
contacts and businesses dealing with tourists, so an average tourist to Cuba
will meet that segment of the population, which is not well educated, in
general.
I
reminded the medical student that medical students in other countries pay from
50 to 100 thousands of dollars to get a medical education. If she were born in
the USA, she wouldn’t have been able to enter a medical school, even though she
is a capable student. If you go to any of the Cuban restaurants you would meet
at least one waitress who had studied medicine in Cuba and is in no position to
continue here studies here. And there is a school in PR, which converts (like
in Philippines), doctoral degrees into Nursing diplomas so that they can work
within the health care system.
(there were two Omaha Indians visiting, and the party was in honour of my Cuban mother who had left to attend a function)
On
a recent get together in my house in Havana, of the 15 guests present, there
were 5 educated at the Doctoral level including one with both MD and PhD, as
well as 4 with education at the Masters degree level and the rest all had
attended universities for various disciplines: including Law, Gastronomy,
Publishing, Medical laboratory, engineering, English language. Such a record is
enviable in any country, especially in a country that is economically poor such
as Cuba. Yet you will hear more complaints about the price of chicken than
praise for the high quality of education, which fundamentally contributes to
their well being, being able to participate in social and cultural events in
this highly cultural country. All you hear is about the struggle, difficulties.
But I have very seldom seen people as happy as the Cubans in the island who are
chirpy, friendly, amicable, offering solidarity and relationship and helping
one another.
Perhaps
it is the lack of exposure to another world other than Cuba that gives rise to
this dichotomy of experience and its descriptions.
The
quantitatively minded people and the less educated (perhaps the same), tend to
migrate and as you would read in the other blog, they tend to complain about
the poor, struggling and difficult life they experience when they migrate.
And
they have lost the best what CUBA can offer: the social support of the society
and friends and family.
I
am an Anthropologist, my thinking is very qualitative and people oriented and I
am very content in La Habana.
When
I left the country yesterday, I told the immigration officer who was a very
young, pretty Cuban (of African ancestry).
I
don’t want to leave, why don’t you take my passport and go
And
she smiled and said
You
like Cuba, don’t you?
