Search results for: medical mission

Revolutionary Prostitutes. Prostitution In Cuba, Part 2 / Miriam Celaya

No social phenomenon arises suddenly or by spontaneous generation, rather it is the result of a long process of the accumulation of essential components. The rise of prostitution in “Socialist Cuba” is no exception. In fact, prostitution was not eliminated by policies dictated by the Government, which favored the mass incorporation of women into the … Continue reading “Revolutionary Prostitutes. Prostitution In Cuba, Part 2 / Miriam Celaya”

Exporting Doctors / Orlando Freire Santana

According to the government, there are 47,000 medical students in Cuba, and a doctor for every 137 persons. What is the real picture  on the national health service? The popular Cuban refrain, when referring to the contradiction which presents itself when the person producing something hasn’t got that thing in his own home, employs the … Continue reading “Exporting Doctors / Orlando Freire Santana”

Havanans Sound Off About the Visit of the Industriales to Miami / Ivan Garcia

From my birth in 1965 until 1977, I lived in Romay, between Monte and Zequeira streets, less than ten blocks from Latinoamericano Stadium. I was 3 years old when my grandmother Carmen, a rare woman of peasant heritage who was a baseball fan, took me to the stadium two or three times a week. Admission was … Continue reading “Havanans Sound Off About the Visit of the Industriales to Miami / Ivan Garcia”

Thousands of Cuban Doctors to Brazil: And For Us, What? / Yaremis Flores

HAVANA, Cuba, September, www.cubanet.org – Since Cuba announced on August 24th the medical cooperation agreement with Brazil, Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, has reported on the front page the arrival of groups of physicians in that country. All the stories omitted the fact that the offering of “solidarity and love” will pay about $4,200 per … Continue reading “Thousands of Cuban Doctors to Brazil: And For Us, What? / Yaremis Flores”

Jesus Rojas Pineda: 18 Years as Political Prisoner / Lilianne Ruiz

HAVANA, Cuba , August, www.cubanet.org.- Undocumented and with the stigma of “terrorist,” Jesús Rojas Pineda barely survives in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas; after having been released on October 19, 2012, from Kilo 9 Prison. Last August 7, Rojas Pineda turned 70. His cause is the same one that Armando Sosa Fortuny was tried for: The 15 … Continue reading “Jesus Rojas Pineda: 18 Years as Political Prisoner / Lilianne Ruiz”

The Story of the Good Pipe* / Fernando Damaso

Cuba has serious medical problems at home. There have been cases reported of cholera, tuberculosis and dengue fever — already at epidemic levels — and other illnesses that have not been seen for decades in this country. In towns and cities there is also a disastrous sanitation and epidemiological situation which has been exacerbated by … Continue reading “The Story of the Good Pipe* / Fernando Damaso”

Half a Million “Crazies” Loom / Alberto Mendez Castello

PUERTO PADRE , Cuba , www.cubanet.org – Dragged into the torrent of criminality by genetic defects or by a social environment prone to crime, not a few inmates who today form the very profuse Cuban prison population, have ended up contracting mental illness. Five maximum security prisons and another 195 prisons form the penitentiary system … Continue reading “Half a Million “Crazies” Loom / Alberto Mendez Castello”

Black Market is Profitable for Doctors / Julio Cesar Alvarez

HAVANA, Cuba, August www.cubanet.org. A good part of the staff in the network of Havana pharmacies, in collusion with doctors in medical offices, clinics and hospitals, sell the medications from these establishments at a premium price, as if they were private businesses. The lines in doctors’ offices, hospitals or hospital outpatient services, coupled with the … Continue reading “Black Market is Profitable for Doctors / Julio Cesar Alvarez”

Angel Santiesteban: To Proven Innocence, Manifest Disloyalty

Editor’s note This is going to be a long but necessary post. From the La Lima prison, where he currently finds himself serving a five-year imprisonment which the government imposed in a rigged trial in order to condemn him for a common crime that he did not commit, we have received these responses by the … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban: To Proven Innocence, Manifest Disloyalty”

Rafael Alcides, Who is a Very Important Person / Regina Coyula

My husband is not just any writer.  He belongs to the generation known as “The Generation of the ’50s,” a rather arbitrary poetic grouping that started with Carilda Oliver (1922) and ran through David Chericián (1940). His generation’s peers — if they haven’t died or emigrated — have received the National Literature Prize and enjoyed … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides, Who is a Very Important Person / Regina Coyula”

Yoss, I Give Thanks to God Every Day That I Am Here / Angel Santiesteban

Yoss, I don’t know how to harbor rancor, neither would I have a reason why, your open letter was in that moment your opinion and – mistaken or not – I wanted to respect that. I only asked that you be more objective, in the interests of  justice. I felt that you were shooting at … Continue reading “Yoss, I Give Thanks to God Every Day That I Am Here / Angel Santiesteban”

The Santiesteban Case: A Crude Judicial Hoax / Angel Santiesteban

Literature and Justice The award-winning writer Angel Santiesteban is imprisoned unjustly for his confrontational attitude to the Castro regime. On Wednesday, February 27, at the headquarters of the Estado de Sats project there was a farewell to Angel Santiesteban Prats, the award-winning writer. The next morning, he will present himself to serve the prison sentence … Continue reading “The Santiesteban Case: A Crude Judicial Hoax / Angel Santiesteban”

PEN Writers in Prison Ask for a Review of Angel Santiesteban’s Trial / Angel Santiesteban

The German PEN Center for Writers in Prison has pronounced its satisfaction with the release of Calixto Martinez Arias but is now asking for a review of the trials of Jose Antonio Torres, journalist, and of writer and blogger Angel Santiesteban Prats. We call on the authorities to provide legal guarantees that have not been … Continue reading “PEN Writers in Prison Ask for a Review of Angel Santiesteban’s Trial / Angel Santiesteban”

The Doctors’ Lament / Julio Cesar Álvarez, Diario de Cuba

By Julio Cesar Alvarez | Havana | From Diario de Cuba. Demands by doctors to receive remuneration for hospital shifts were not accepted by the Government when it was developing the draft Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy of the Party. The response the doctors received from the authorities was in the nature of … Continue reading “The Doctors’ Lament / Julio Cesar Álvarez, Diario de Cuba”

And Before CIMEQ…

On our small island many have felt the need to emigrate. Most do it out of disillusionment, others out of desperation, some looking for comfort, and a few rare specimens simply to be different, out of morbid fascination. When the hirsute insurrectionists came down from the mountains hungry for promiscuity — which certainly did not … Continue reading “And Before CIMEQ…”