Cuba, the Empire and Ebola
Cuba, the Empire and Ebola
By Prof. Tim Anderson
Global Research, November 03, 2014
‘The Ebola epidemic constitutes an enormous risk… we have to struggle so it does not become one of the greatest pandemics … by planning and working together … and this in turn requires political will, rigorous organisational discipline and efficiency.’ - José Ángel Portal Miranda, Cuban Vice Minister of Health
In early October, as a first group of 165 Cuban doctors arrived in Sierra Leone, the Wall Street Journal recognised that Cuba was ‘at the forefront’ of the battle against Ebola in Africa. This was unusual North American praise for Cuba.
The reluctant admission shows some of the reasoning behind a semi-covert relationship which has developed between Cuba and Washington over the Ebola crisis. Nevertheless, stark differences in approach signal the deep ideological divide between the would-be global empire and the small socialist island.
The imperial approach has been to present a militarised and self-referential response to Ebola, as a security threat to ‘Americans’. Focus quickly moved to ill-conceived quarantine measures. In contrast, Cuba’s international solidarity approach was to send trained health workers and help build a coordinated social medicine response, which includes specialist training for local health workers.
More:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/cuba-the-empire-and-ebola/5411567?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cuba-the-empire-and-ebola
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