by Svetozar Pejovich
Not so, according to the Left. The New York Times, Hollywood and the likes of Bernie Sanders Canada are quick to extoll two Castro’s accomplishments, free education and free health care. The Left argues that those two accomplishments of Castro more than cancel political oppressions, gulags and unmarked graves. So, all Cubans can read Castro’s speeches while waiting in long lines to be seen by doctors in the clinics infested by cockroaches. Let us look a bit deeper into those accomplishments of Castro.
In the former Soviet Union, former communist Eastern Europe, Mao’s China, and Tito’s Yugoslavia education was also free. But, same as in Castro’s Cuba, education was both centralized and politicized. Kids learned what the leaders thought that they should know; and grown-ups were free to discuss “safe” subjects. Or else.
It gets even more interesting. The flow of students between the USA and the rest of the world is, mostly if not exclusively, one-way? How many Spanish speaking students are seeking the benefit of free education is Cuba? What attracts young people from the Rest to the racist, bigoted, corrupted capitalist America? And after experiencing the racist and bigoted America why are they doing their best to stay here?
As for medical care in Cuba—just let any Cuban family in Miami tell you stories about free medical help in Cuba. Or even better, check the number of people from Spanish speaking countries in Central and South America going to Cuba to seek free health? As a footnote, this author got sick in Russia in 1974. It is scary to even remember the quality of free health care he experienced.
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