Cuba also provides 20,000 family physicians along with nurses and medical technicians as foreign aid to Africa and Latin America. When the U.S. and Western Europe became hysterical about Ebola, Cuba did something about it. Cuba led the fight against Ebola by sending 461 doctors to Sierra Leone to treat those infected and to stem the spread of the epidemic. [HERE ]
In addition to providing doctors abroad, Cuba also has one of the largest in the world of international medical schools. Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine trains foreign students from poor parts of the world such as in Africa, Asia and Latin America to become doctors and serve their communities. The enrollment is approximately 20,000 students from 110 countries, including some from the U.S.A. The tuition, room and board is completely free to students. [Andrea Mitchell interviews U.S. students 2012: HERE ] and [HERE ] and [HERE ].
Race Relations
Race relations are another area where Cuba has made huge strides forward. The Cuban Revolution brought desegregation to Cuba. Two months after Fidel Castro and his revolutionary army marched into Havana, Castro said in a speech:
"It should not be necessary to dictate a law against an absurd prejudice. That which should be dictated is the public condemnation against any people so filled with old vices and prejudices that they would discriminate against Cubans over questions of lighter or darker skin".We are a mixed race from Africa and Spain. No one should consider themselves a pure race, much less a superior race"..We are going to put an end to this odious and repugnant system"" [HERE ].
Before the revolution there was a system of strict racial segregation, much like existed in the U.S. Cuba's racial segregation was a result of US influence such as during the Spanish-American War in 1898, later U.S. military occupations of Cuba and the hay-days of Cuba being the U.S. playground before the Cuban revolution. [HERE ]
Hotels, casinos, restaurants, housing, neighborhoods, employment, schools, swimming pools and even the beaches and parks were segregated, just as they were then in the U.S. before integration.
When African American performers such as Nat King Cole performed in Cuba they were not allowed to stay in white-only hotels such as the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Even Cuba's dictator Fulgencio Batista was not permitted to the exclusive Cuban country clubs because he was black. [HERE ]
Organic Farming
Cuba today also takes other progressive ideals seriously. One of them is organic farming using natural fertilizers and crop rotation. Initially, organic farming was practiced out of necessity because of the U.S. embargo of pesticides and fertilizers. Now Cubans take organic farming very seriously for health and environmental reasons.
Sex Education Program
Cuba is also making strides to end discrimination against its LBGT community. Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro, spearheads Cuba's sex education program and is an outspoken promoter of gay rights in Cuba. [HERE ]
The U.S. Blockade and Terrorism
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