by Joan Simon, speech given at San Jose Against War rally on March 3, 202
For years, I had always want to go to Cuba. I wanted to experience a society, if only for a very short time, that genuinely cares about its people. In 2015, I finally had an opportunity to travel to Cuba. The focus of this trip was to explore healthcare, education and cooperatives.
What is remarkable about Cuba is what this country has been able to accomplish in health and education in spite of the horrendous US blockade.
During our trip, we visited a neurological development center, a senior center, and a therapeutic hot water spa. These institutions provide their services WITHOUT CHARGE to the patient, because they are public services. Their costs are social costs, NOT individual costs. In Cuba, people do not have to stress about health care premiums, deductibles, co-insurance, or co-pays because health care in FREE in Cuba. And, in just two generations after Cuba’s revolution, life expectancy of Cubans increased by twenty years.
And, in the spirit of internationalism, a spirit of solidarity with the people of the world, one of Cuba’s leading exports has been doctors and health care professionals, who serve in health care brigades in many parts of Africa and Latin America.
The speed of these improvements in health care also occurred in education. In 1961, over 100,000 Cubans volunteered for a literacy campaign, traveling to the countryside, to the rural areas of Cuba, to teach reading and writing. And, in less than a year, Cuba raised its literacy rate from 76% to 96%. Cuba’s literacy method, called “Yes I Can, or Yo Si Puedo,” has been used to teach over 8 million people in 33 countries to read and write.
During our trip to Cuba, we visited a school for children with special needs and a university. Again, these institutions provide their services WITHOUT CHARGE. Students do not have to worry about tuition or student loans.
The university that we visited was ELAM, or the Latin American School of Medicine. This medical university was started by Fidel Castro to educate students from all over the world to become doctors, then go and practice in their respective countries in low income areas where these services are lacking. This medical education is EVEN open to students from the United States.
And, between 1978 and the early 1990’s, once again in the spirit of internationalism, Cuba provided primary and secondary schooling, in Cuba, to 18,000 international children from 37 nations.
Cuba is a society that makes people a priority, that makes health care and education national priorities. In the Cuban constitution, everyone has a right to health care, to education, and to sports and recreation. Just think about how different our country would be if it prioritized people over profit.
But, this is one of the reasons why Cuba is such a danger to the capitalists in the United States. Cuba shows us an example of what can be accomplished when a government that prioritizes its people over profit. And for this, the government of the United States, has sought to wreak havoc on Cuba. Our government has waged a sixty-six year economic war on Cuba, which has hindered Cuba’s development. For a small, island country with little natural resources, this economic blockade has been so destructive to its progress.
Our government, the United States, prohibits nearly all U.S. exports and imports to and from Cuba. SHAME. Our government blocks Cuba from financial systems and international institutions, making even simple international transactions difficult and costly. SHAME. Our government penalizes companies from ANY country who trade with Cuba. SHAME. Our government restricts ships which dock at Cuban ports from docking at U.S. ports. SHAME. And now, this year, President Trump signed an executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba. SHAME. All these laws and executive orders are meant to bring an end to Cuba’s government; to end Cuba’s “people over profits” philosophy; to end Cuba’s socialism; and to end Cuba’s internationalism.
Yes, Cuba experiences hardships, BUT it is NOT because of its political or economic philosophies or policies. It is because our government, the United States, is and has been waging an economic war on Cuba.
And so, it is up to us, to educate, to promote, and to publicize the NEED to end this terrible economic embargo on Cuba, to build a better tomorrow for everyone around the world, a world without imperialism, a world without colonialism, a world without genocide, where the improvement of the people’s lives, not profit, is the driving force in our world.
End the Embargo!