As we knew, there are no private medical practices in Cuba, but in other areas, the government is trying to encourage private enterprise. I even saw a program on tv in which a university professor, targeting an audience of young adults, explained how Cubans need to learn about global economics, enterprise, taxes and commerce. Clearly the lessons of the "special period" were driven home...
The Special Period is a euphemism for the time when the Soviet Union fell and Cuba lost Russian support. The population had not used Russian help to become self-sufficient so when Russia withdrew, 80% of Cuba's markets closed and the nation was a drop of 35% in GNP. Poverty and hunger were rampant, with malnutrition resulting in medical complications that still haunt the population today.
Today's Cuba is taking a new approach. At the last communist congress, two resolutions were proposed that are being considered by leadership:
1. Increase free enterprise
2. Allow travel out of the country for Cubans to work and accumulate wealth to bring back to the island.
These changes do not signal a change in fundamental ideology, as clearly explained during a political lesson we were given during out stay; rather, it reflects an understanding that the nation cannot survive without a change. The physical infrastructure, the glut of professionals without jobs in their fields, the lack of food and basic materials, etc., will not sustain the country. And behind all of it, is a continuing blame of the US for the "blockade" as the Cuban refer to the embargo. Even Cubans, though, are quick to add that their troubles result from more than just the embargo, and they support the new direction conceptually, although complain about the taxes that they must lay for private enterprise. Cuba's goal in promoting private business also has the ulterior motive of funding the government through taxation, a method thatbis universally applied in developed countries.
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