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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

A Wellness Perspective on Trade with Cuba

Thursday August 8, 2002

In Tampa Florida, where I am a candidate for mayor, sensible people (as well as lunatic types) have strong opinions on whether this country should trade with Cuba while Castro remains in power. My position is unambiguous and already known to the Hispanic community -- I strongly favor the lifting of the embargo and maximum trade with this beleaguered nation. I favor removing the long-standing embargo for five reasons:

Many humanitarian benefits for the people of Cuba would obtain from the delivery of medicines and other desperately needed supplies.
Political benefits would also accrue to the people of Cuba as a consequence of the flow of democratic ideas, since trade would counter the relentless one-sided Communist propaganda from Castro for the inhabitants of that Island.
Economic benefits would also exist for Tampa and other US communities from the commerce associated with sale of our goods and services.
The current embargo restricting Americans from traveling to Cuba save under special circumstances is an outrageous limitation on our rights as citizens to travel freely.
The embargo is illogical and inconsistent, continued by the Administration solely to pander to a small but influential voting bloc of ex-patriot extremists in this state. We trade with hideous regimes, such as Saudi Arabia, for goodness sakes!

Last week, our mayor made a surprise visit to Havana to explore business opportunities. He was much vilified for doing so by many of his long-time Latin supporters in the community. I think his visit was a wise and courageous act. From a wellness perspective, trade with Cuba is in their interest and ours, and the right thing to do. Among other benefits is the belief that such visits will hasten the lifting of the embargo, which will, in turn, facilitate the promotion of healthier lives for inhabitants of that country.

Of course, I am not exactly a voice in the wilderness in adopting this position. The rest of the world takes a dim view of our embargo, as do most Americans, including the people of the state of Florida and, I suspect, the voters of Tampa. On the basis of a comprehensive study of the impact of U.S. policy on the health of the Cuban population, the American Association for World Health (AAWH), a committee of the World Health Organization (WHO), seeks an end to the embargo. AAWH's comprehensive report, based on a large number of interviews with medical and other personnel in Cuba obtained from 46 site visits, showed clearly that the US is basically damaging the health of large numbers of ordinary Cuban citizens. The report also suggests that the outright ban on the sale of American foodstuffs has contributed to serious nutritional deficits, particularly among pregnant women, leading to an increase in low birth-weight babies. In addition, food shortages were linked to a devastating outbreak of neuropathy with sufferers numbering in the tens of thousands. By one estimate, daily caloric intake dropped 33 percent between 1989 and 1993 and no doubt even more since then.

This is an inhumane way to get back at Castro! We are a major force for low-level worseness in Cuba, not high-level wellness. We should be outraged at our government and actively working to do our part to change this Draconian policy. The AAWH report holds that "a humanitarian catastrophe has been averted only because the Cuban government has maintained a high level of budgetary support for a health care system designed to deliver primary and preventive health care to all of its citizens."

Other beliefs that lead me to support our mayor's visit and urge the end of the embargo are as follows:

Isolating a country does not weaken, but rather strengthens, its government and adds to the negative effects on the people so isolated. A case in point is North Korea. People are starving in that country, but they are so isolated from other than state propaganda that they are easily molded into hero worship of their oppressors.
Besides Saudi Arabia, we have relations with Russia, China, and Vietnam -- countries with which we have been in cold and/or hot wars for decades until recently. Vietnam and China remain Communist with terrible human rights abuse records that are well documented. Compared with China, Cuba looks good, even under Castro!
Our embargo and other such foreign policy positions propagate the "Ugly American" image still extant throughout the world. Most US politicians still fail to realize that America's political influence has a limit. Some must unconsciously believe that because we can defeat anyone militarily, we can dictate their politics, as well.
Castro ascended to power partly because America sponsored a corrupt government. Castro is, in part, a product of our own misguided foreign policy. Most Cubans are no worse off under Castro than they were under Batista.

It sounds as if Castro is doing more for his people than President Bush is for Americans, at least insofar as an effective health care system goes. The Cuban infant mortality rate is half that of the Nation's capital, despite the hardships imposed on Cuba by our embargo of food and (indirectly) medical supplies. The Cuban system is clearly more supportive of improved health status than our fragmented trillion dollar high-tech non-system. In Cuba, everyone has basic health care; in America, 40 million citizens are left without health insurance while the Administration continues to oppose modest Medicare prescription drug benefits that would help primarily low-income seniors and those facing catastrophic pharmacy bills.

It's a wonder some European nations are not calling for an embargo on us!

Oh well, it's too bad the mayor of Tampa does not get to make foreign policy. Just the same, that is no reason a mayor from Florida or any other state should not go off to Cuba to do his part to promote the time when we can trade with that country. The Cuban people need our help. Someday, Cuba will be a strong democratic ally and a valued trading partner. Let's all do our part to hasten that time. As a candidate for mayor of Tampa, I say, "Hooray for Mayor Greco. Viva the day of a free Cuba and hasta luego Fidel."

Be well and always look on the bright side of life.

Domain: purpose
Subdomain: applied wellness

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