State and Society
The True Face of the Cuban Health System
Roberto Miguel Santana Citizens Committee for Racial Integration Antilla, Holguín, Cuba
T
he Cuban Health System is not so free and much less efficient as they picture it. And I emphasize these two things because the facts speak for themselves. Cuba is not just its known 16 provinces, since the municipalities, towns and neighborhoods are the real places to live for an estimated population of 11 238 317 inhabitants( 2014), although the official statistics seem mythical because of the mass migration since 2013. In each of these municipalities, towns and neighborhoods, we find educational and health problems, but I will focus on the latter. Across the country, we find thousands of incidents like this one I’ m reporting with graphic support. The municipality Antilla( Holguin Province) comprises an intricate neighborhood called Pilón 6. Here the electric current for its more than three thousand residents was installed in 2016, after 57 years of revolution. The place is so remote that people find it very difficult to go to the hospital, but it wouldn’ t be difficult for the hospital to provide the same services rendered by the government abroad through the trumpeted campaigns Operation Miracle and Barrio Adentro. In this and other intricate areas, the elderly and their families daily seek the miracle boasted by the government through the mass media.
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