Instead of toppling the regime, Bush should study Cuban health system

ONE would have imagined US President George W Bush had enough on his plate in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is characteristic of the man that he is now concerned with the democratisation of Cuba.

Which means the people of that Caribbean island should be seriously worried, especially as it’s only 90 miles from Florida.

Because of ill-health, 80-year-old Fidel Castro has handed over his presidential powers to his slightly younger brother Raul, so Dubya is getting itchy fingers.

Keeping it in the family is something we should appreciate in this country as it’s almost a tradition that Dáil seats are handed down to widows or sons.

Admittedly, the occupant usually has vacated the seat terminally, and we go through the motion of holding a by-election.

The result, however, is just the same. It remains in the family. The Castros have just cut out the expense as they operate in something of a democratic vacuum.

But not for long if Dubya has his way after the demise of the Castro brothers.

He has already called for democracy in Cuba and he has urged the people there to work for democratic change.

It would, of course, have helped enormously had the Americans not imposed a travel ban on citizens going there, or making it illegal for them to enjoy the odd Cuban cigar.

The principle of non-interference in the affairs of another sovereign country has never deterred the present incumbent of the White House. Neither has it on this occasion.

In the case of Cuba, about the only non-interference Dubya has observed is the economic embargo. He has not interfered with that, apart from making it more difficult for the Cubans to live.

As well as calling for democracy — his kind of democracy — Bush has already set aside $80 million to help the Cubans overthrow the shackles that bind them to poverty and go for his American dream.

He promised support from Washington “to build a transitional government in Cuba committed to democracy”.

He ranted on in a speech in Texas that the US would “take note of those in the current Cuban regime who obstruct a desire for a free Cuba”.

That’s the kind of the talk guaranteed to drive the Americans ballistic and to put the National Guard and Homeland Security on red alert if you or I were heard to make a similar suggestion about the Yanks in downtown Dallas, or wherever.

Sedition is what you’d be accused of fomenting, and you would disappear down Guantanamo Bay direction without so much as a phone call to your solicitor.

Consider the mentality of a man who is prepared to spend $80 million on his idea of helping Cuba, yet has no compunction about health cuts which will seriously affect about 50 million Americans on low incomes.

Despite the US blockade for the past 42 years, and the fall of Soviet communism on which Cuba depended economically, good medical care is freely available to all Cubans and practically the entire population is literate. On both fronts, that is far superior to the US, and it’s even better than we have managed to achieve. As we know only too well, money does not guarantee a better standard of living or better services for everyone.

Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, yet we have one of the most deplorable health services. Although we spend about e12 billion on it, we still have an A&E crisis which even the Government has acknowledged to be a national emergency.

According to Barnardo’s, the children’s charity, one in every 10 Irish children, or 100,000 in all, live in consistent poverty.

Whatever else can be said about Fidel Castro, he has given Cuba healthcare and education systems unmatched in far wealthier countries.

Instead of looking at health systems in so-called developed countries, maybe our Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, should take a trip to Havana where they are more concerned about preventative treatment.

I doubt very much if the Cubans have to languish on trolleys for hours, if not days, before being treated.

It seems ironic, if not downright callous, that the US president can afford to talk about $80 million in so-called aid for Cuba, while cutting back on medical aid for his own people.

Hardest hit will be the poorest Americans if his proposal to cut $36 billion — yes, billion — off Medicaid and Medicare over the next five years is implemented. These schemes cover basic health care for the poor and elderly.

WE HAVE all heard the horror stories about getting sick and needing a doctor or hospitalisation in America. If you haven’t got insurance, then forget it.

Now, consider the obscenity that Bush proposes in his recently announced budget, which has not yet been passed and should not even be entertained.

Dubya wants a record $439.3 billion defence budget, which would be up by almost 5% on last year.

In addition to that staggering sum, he will also look for new funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Essentially, what he’s doing is cutting the health budget so defence can be increased, which means the poorest working and elderly Americans shoulder the worst of his misguided use of tax money.

There is opposition to his proposals even in his own Republican party, and especially among the Democrats, as mid-term Congressional elections loom next November.

Even in the US, where popular support for the war in Iraq is waning, it is mind-boggling that the president should even contemplate making cuts which would affect such vital areas as health, education, and even cancer research, in favour of defence.

Ahead of elections — to reduce the issue to it most venal level — it makes no sense at all.

He could learn a lot from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in how to win elections.

Given that there will be change in Cuba eventually without the influence of either Castro, the fact is Bush has all but planted the Stars and Stripes on the island and there is an onus now on the international community to allow the Cubans decide their own fate.

No other country has the right to impose its authority on the people of Cuba. Neither should the pretence of democracy be allowed to turn the country into something that its people might not want.

It is presumed the island will want a change of regime, but it is doubtful that Cubans will want to adopt a system that elevates defence spending above the needs of the poor and elderly.

Despite the ineptitude of the CIA, or perhaps because of it, Fidel Castro has ruled the island since 1959 despite countless assassination attempts and the US-orchestrated Bay of Pigs invasion in 1962.

While the political and economic system there has defects, when the time comes for change the people of Cuba may well decide nonetheless that the devil they know is better than the one they don’t.