Search results for: medical mission doctors

Medicine in Cuba Today: A Series of Shortcuts and Scarcities / Jeovany Jimenez Vega

By Alfredo Felipe Valdés The professional trained for at least a decade, with a high educational rigor, who once he or she graduates has a high level of knowledge, is not treated by the State with the consideration deserved from the years and personal effort it took to complete the training. This includes how other … Continue reading “Medicine in Cuba Today: A Series of Shortcuts and Scarcities / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”

Letter to Pope Benedict XVI / Jeovany Jimenez Vega

Artemisa, 20 February 2012 To His Holiness Benedict XVI: Like most Cubans, I greatly rejoice in your announced visit to our country, which will undoubtedly be welcome. You come to a country living in the most complex moment in its history. When you come, certainly, our authorities will show, among others, the achievements of our … Continue reading “Letter to Pope Benedict XVI / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”

Cuba Medicine and an Offended Doctor / Miriam Celaya

Following the publication of the post “The Broken Showcase” in this blog, in which I noted several criticisms of the Cuban health system and the loss of professional ethics by not a few doctors, a reader was kind enough to send me the letter of a doctor with the surnames Alemán Matías, which circulated on … Continue reading “Cuba Medicine and an Offended Doctor / Miriam Celaya”

Legalizing the Illegalities / Fernando Dámaso

The two Decree-Laws adopted regarding the purchase and sale of Motor Vehicles and Housing, in spite of the propaganda organized around it to convince people that they represent important steps in the political updating of the model, constitute a reality of more heat than light, because it does not go beyond simple legalization (with dozens … Continue reading “Legalizing the Illegalities / Fernando Dámaso”

Broken Showcase / Miriam Celaya

Anyone who still harbors any hope about the niceties of the health system in Cuba has only to get sick and go see a doctor. It’s not hard at all, taking into consideration the number of rare diseases circulating among us these days, just within reach. And there are other illnesses, already endemic, such as … Continue reading “Broken Showcase / Miriam Celaya”

Chronicle of Asclepius in Cuba (Part 2) / Jeovany J. Vega

Translator’s note: Asclepius is the ancient Greek god of Healing and Medicine If you are moderately well-informed you know that we 11 million Cubans living in Cuba are subject to a ban on free travel abroad. In this case it’s not about a personal decision, but requires that you be invariably authorized by an arm … Continue reading “Chronicle of Asclepius in Cuba (Part 2) / Jeovany J. Vega”

What to Celebrate? / Rebeca Monzo

Today, December 3rd, we celebrate the Day of the Doctor in my world. I have a doctor friend, with twenty-five years of experience, specializing in psychiatry, with good results, according to the acknowledgement of her patients, which is what really counts, who this year will be in her house baking cakes to be able to … Continue reading “What to Celebrate? / Rebeca Monzo”

Memory Among the Rubble / Ernesto Morales Licea

“Twenty dollars, Sir,” he answered me, in fractured English. A diaphanous but nervous smile softened his facial features. More than black his skin was almost purple, and he was of an indeterminate age: he could have been fifty, or all of a hundred. I accepted his price, got in with him, and asked him to … Continue reading “Memory Among the Rubble / Ernesto Morales Licea”

Divine Providence and the Assassination of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia / Ricardo Medina

“Life is worth nothing if I ignore that the assassin took a different path and is preparing another ambush.” – Pablo Milanes When I retrospectively analyze my pastoral relationship with Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, I discover that neither international forces or media campaigns were interested in him. Instead, God, who is never neutral before the … Continue reading “Divine Providence and the Assassination of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia / Ricardo Medina”

Cuba: Children No, Abortions Yes / Iván García

For Ricardo, 32, the worst business one could have in Cuba is to have kids. “I have two and I know what I’m talking about. If my old lady didn’t get rid of them it’s because the gynecologist told us that if she had another abortion she could be left sterile. After pulling our hair … Continue reading “Cuba: Children No, Abortions Yes / Iván García”

In Havana the Illegal Taxis are Booming / Iván García

“God knows what it costs me to keep the car rolling,” says José, a former diplomat retired since 1994 and owner of a Lada 2105, made in Russia in the late 80’s. He receives a pension of about 350 pesos that evaporates to buy tomatoes, rice and tropical fruit. To find the necessary extra money, … Continue reading “In Havana the Illegal Taxis are Booming / Iván García”

The Curtain is Drawn, Matter Concluded / Laritza Diversent

The trial for the deaths at the Psychiatric Hospital seemed like a bad theater set painted by the official press, which tried to adorn that which we all know with legal technicalities: The setback of public health, the weakness of the judicial system, and the hypocrisy of the communications media. The daily paper, Granma, omitted … Continue reading “The Curtain is Drawn, Matter Concluded / Laritza Diversent”

Reinventing Slavery / Ernesto Morales Licea

Talking about Cuban doctors today brings to mind a new kind of slavery, of sad pieces used on a chessboard. Through misfortune, the doctor Oscar Elías Biscet — a free man in the damp shadow of his cell — is hardly alone. I believe that few professionals in the world face a situation more precarious … Continue reading “Reinventing Slavery / Ernesto Morales Licea”

The Mazorra Case: Has the Curtain Come Down? / Laritza Diversent

On Monday, January 31, the Havana Provincial Court imposed sentences of between 5 and 15 years imprisonment on the 13 people accused in the deaths, by starvation and cold, of 26 patients in the Psychiatric Hospital, located on the outskirts of the capital. The incident occurred in January 2010. The steepest penalty, 15 years, went … Continue reading “The Mazorra Case: Has the Curtain Come Down? / Laritza Diversent”

What Changes? / Claudia Cadelo

With great effort I’ve managed to read the eleven pages of “The Transformations Required in the Public Health System.” I have the impression that if we took out all the ideological apologies — such as, “the direction of our glorious Party,” or this one, “the immense historic responsibility we have for the future of the … Continue reading “What Changes? / Claudia Cadelo”