Cuba USA

US - Bad intentions and ignorance/ response to Wall Street Journal on Cuban article

By: Dr. Néstor García Iturbe

A friend kindly sent me this article an article by Mary Anastasia O´grady published in the Wall Street Journal entitled: “Cuba’s Slave Trade in Doctors”” that tries to distort completely the purposes that moves Cuba regarding its medical assistance to different countries in the world.

Analyzing articles in the Wall Street Journal signed by O’grady it is easy to understand that she is unable to make an impartial and balanced evaluation as should be done by a self respecting journalist and be respected by its readers.

The different articles that she has written refer mostly to Latin America. The style and focus of O’grady is extremely critical and reactionary. It is not necessary to describe a paradise when referring to any country in our continent, but it is not also honest to refer to it as evil.

Her comments on Chile, the education in that country and very especially about the student leader Camila Vallejo are even degrading for O’grady herself. Among the ideas she tries to get across is the assertion that the journalists makes of the interest of Chileans on communism and blames mostly Augusto Pinochet who was unable to stop that tendency. Perhaps she thinks that Pinochet should have killed more Chileans to assure that there are no vestiges of this ideological tendency in power. Another article on Chile published November 2, 2014, entitled “The Chilean miracle moves in reverse” is an unbalanced and totally false analysis of the events under the direction of Michelle Bachelet evidently aimed to subvert her image.

As for Argentina, she published an article on March 17 of 2013 analyzing future project of that nation. She even insists that Mrs. Kirchner has not completed implanting a totalitarian regime without freedom of the press, because this is soon to come. She claims that small shop keepers are being persecuted, journalists are hounded when the publish articles that are not within the official line. In that same article she tries to create enmity between the Pope and Argentina suggesting that the government has claimed that all the bishops had

complicity with the dictatorship.

The articles of this lady do not exclude its attacks against Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and other Latin American countries that have preferred to defend national interests moving away from the intents of Washington.

As for the article on Cuba, one of many, Cuba appears in her list of favorites for Madam O’grady, using the same propaganda used by the Nazis in the Second World War by beginning her article with a big lie that sets the scene for the reader and later expounding on it.

In the article published on November 9 2014 she claims that Cuba receives annually 8 billion dollars for the medical services to other countries. If this were true, it would surpass what Cuba receives for Nickel and Tourism. The figure referred to in different cases does not surpass the 2 billion dollars.

It should be pointed out, according to what has been revealed for that service in many countries whose economy and business relations with Cuba allow it, Many countries receive the services without any cost;

these are countries that do not have economic resources to guarantee medical attention for its population and usually are those that have many necessities, primarily not having adequate nutrition. If they have nothing to eat how are we going to charge?

The countries to which Cuba does not charge medical attention are responsible for accommodation and food for the Cuban medical personnel who also receive a small amount for their personal needs. On the other

hand, Cuba continues to pay the salary for the families of these doctors.

Mostly the Cuban medical brigades that include doctors, nurses, technicians and specialists are assigned to distant localities where often the inhabitants have never seen a doctor and where their work is to establish communication with the shamans of the tribe to be able to develop their work.

As part of the solidarity without any cost Cuba promotes other countries to also help the Cuban medical brigades. Cuba supplies specialized medical personnel and the other country guarantees medicines and other resources also free of charge.

Another contribution of public health in different countries, Cuba has the Latin American School of Medicine in which many young people from different countries graduate as doctors and then return to their country to practice their craft. In this school, just like other medical faculties in the island young people also study. They are from Asia, Africa, Latin America and even the United States. Neither their persons nor government pay for the years of study in which they prepare themselves as doctors. In most cases the students receive a

stipend form their governments for their personal expenses since Cuba covers accommodation, enrolment, books and food.

The Cuban Revolution does not traffic or is enriched by foreign tragedies. Cuban solidarity reaches the farthest corners of each country where they are based and if, in some cases the medical services offered are

charged the main purpose is to cover the costs in countries in which hunger and economic situation does not allow the governments to offer adequate attention to the population.

We would want a larger income to be able to offer help to more countries in the world that, instead of receiving aid are robbed of their economic resources and the large corporations charge the benefits of this policy of plunder; they are only concerned of and receiving utilities and not guaranteeing the life of the peoples they exploit.

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