On Monday, July 4th, my life-partner Penny and I had the great honour of hosting in our home Sandra Ramírez Rodríguez of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People, and Aileén Carmenaty Sánchez, Press and Cultural Attaché at the Cuban Embassy in Canada.
I have to say that Cuba and its people are an enormous inspiration to Penny and to me. Sandra Ramírez Rodríguez and Aileén Carmenaty Sánchez are no exception.
They are strongly committed to the Cuban revolution and all its beliefs. They are not demoralized in the slightest by the very real problems which Cuba faces today.
It is true that the U.S.A.’s illegal six decades-long economic embargo against the country continues to cause enormous suffering to the Cuban people. However, the embargo simply results in the Cuban people being even more resolute and resilient.
In 2019, COVID appeared on the world stage. While its global effects were dramatic and very harmful for us in the developed world, they were even greater for those in the developing world.
Many are unaware of the fact that Cuba developed its own pharmaceutical industry many years ago. This made it possible for Cuba to develop not one but five COVID vaccines after the pandemic struck.
Cuba is now freely donating these various effective vaccines to many developing nations.
Canada too had a large, well-established pharmaceutical industry, and for much of the 20th Century was a world-leader in vaccination research and production. However, in the 1980s, the publicly-owned Connaught Laboratories was privatized by the Mulroney government and was ultimately sold to foreign interests – ending Canada’s ability to produce its own vaccines.
If only Canada had had the foresight to retain its vaccine development industry. If only Canada had shown the same level of altruism towards the developing world as has Cuba.
The Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), was founded in Cuba in 1999 and is now recognized as the world’s largest medical school. ELAM admits medical students from around the world – most on full scholarships – the only condition being that upon graduation, the new doctors must return to their home countries to provide healthcare to those in need.
Cuba’s economy may be small but its achievements in healthcare, education, and life expectancy are breathtaking – on par with, and in some cases better than, those of the so-called developed world.
The Global Footprint Network measures the ecological footprint of nations around the planet by calculating their demand on and supply of natural resources. According to an analysis of this data by the World Population Review, while Cuba runs a slight ecological deficit, the country’s environmental footprint is one of the lowest in the world.
Cuba’s farsighted environmental policies also face implementation challenges due to the U.S. embargo, which limits its access to much needed infrastructure and technology.
When Nelson Mandela was released from imprisonment, he declared that there was one nation that did more to bring about the end of apartheid than any other nation – Cuba – calling Fidel Castro “A source of inspiration to all freedom-loving peoples’.
The achievements of the Cuban people and the work of Sandra Ramírez Rodríguez and Aileén Carmenaty Sánchez are truly inspirational. My only wish is that Penny and I could share their enriching company every night of the week!
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (July 7, 2022): 419.75ppm
One year ago (July 7, 2021): 417.66pm
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