The Socialist Republic of Cuba is an authoritarian socialist state in the Caribbean, near the USA, Jamaica, Haiti and The Bahamas. It is considered the last Marxist-Leninist (commonly called communist) government in the world.
Debates on the Left
Given Cuba's status as the last 'true' Marxist-Leninist government left in the world, it is subject to a lot of debate on the left about whether or not the government is 'good' (ie struggling against the USA and the embargo while providing excellent social programs for its citizens that had to take hard measures to survive) or 'bad' (a corrupt oligarchy that represses the population and destroyed any opportunity for democracy) or a mix of both.
Objective Positives of Cuba
- Cuba has a highly effective healthcare system. Cuba's life expectancy is 78.3 years, the 5th highest in the Americas behind Canada, Chile, Costa Rica and the United States. Cuba ranks 30th on the 2019 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, which is the only developing country to rank that high.[1] Cuba has the highest doctor-to-patient ratio of any country in the world. As of September 2014, there are around 50,000 Cuban-trained health care workers aiding 66 nations. Cuban doctors have played a leading role in combating the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.[2] In 2015, Cuba became the first country to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, a milestone hailed by the World Health Organization as "one of the greatest public health achievements possible".[3]
- Cuba has an excellent Cuba's literacy rate is 99.8%, compared to 76% in 1957.
- Cuba has a high school graduation rate of 94%.
- Cuba has helped 10 million people across Latin America learn to read through foreign literacy programs.
- Cuba has some of the best environmental protection systems in the world.
- Cuba has helped developed the organipicos system.
Objective Negatives of Cuba
- Cuba has engaged in some pretty horrible human rights abuses like torture, kidnapping and execution of dissidents.
- Cuba's economy is very backwards and has been falling behind for a long time.
Major Social Struggles
- 1994: Maleconazo
References
- ↑ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-24/spain-tops-italy-as-world-s-healthiest-nation-while-u-s-slips
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20161228051729/http://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/30/cuba-first-eliminate-mother-baby-hiv-transmission