Cuba's fight against COVID-19 on the island has been exemplary, despite the U.S.-enforced blockade. China sent important donations to the island, including protective clothing, surgical masks, and infrared thermometers; some of these important supplies came from the government, but others came from public sector entities such as the Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Company -- one of the world's largest bus makers.
Socialist Solidarity
It is small-minded of people like U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to ignore their own incompetence in dealing with the disease and instead point fingers at others. Trump has made it a habit of blaming China; Bolsonaro's son -- Rodrigo -- followed Trump in tweeting that the Chinese Communist Party is to blame for the virus. These governments have taken refuge in another atrocious virus -- that of xenophobia (in particular, sinophobia).
China and Cuba, on the other hand, have -- like other socialist countries -- taken to heart the WHO slogan, "solidarity, not stigma." Deng Boqing, the vice chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency, said, "the grace of dripping water should be reciprocated by a gushing spring." What he meant was that China's response to other countries will not be measured by what they have done for China (dripping water) but by what these countries need (gushing spring); this is the old Marxist idea of giving what you can and taking what you need. China, Deng Boqing said, follows the "principle of doing what we can and trying our best."
This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute
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