BBC: Following Cuba's example
Marxist_Mike | 17.08.2002 11:10
The Marxist views of the farm manager are precisely those which have made Cuba an enemy of the United States for more than forty years.
"The government is aware of the problems of the people and it supports us in everything, as for the girls working on the farm, they're training to be scientists or senior government officials."
And at least while the boss is around, the students sent to work on the Antero Regalado cooperative farm, approximately an hours drive from the capital, Havana, seem to agree.
"I would like to visit but not stay [in the west], says one girl, "I enjoy the peacefulness of my country and over there I believe they're very unrealistic."
A young mind in a bit of a dilemma - the bright and precarious lights of the west against the [so-called] stultifying straightjacket of socialism.
Not forgetting of course the health care perks they would lose.
"We've been vaccinated against typhoid, meningitis, hepatitis - 13 vaccinations in all," she continues.
Far from the upheavals of the post Cold War world, Cuba lives in a bygone age.
It is still ruled by Fidel Castro. Market and democratic reform are off the agenda. It's banned from getting international loans and aid, yet it has been praised by none other than the World Bank.
Praised, in fact, for bringing healthcare and education up to first world levels.
This way of life has now even been praised by the World Bank for delivering basic needs, where other systems have failed.
The debate focusing minds is this. Under an authoritarian system, if you speak out against it, you get punished. But your children will be taught how to read and write. They will be vaccinated against diseases. They will be given basic care.
Of course everybody would like there to be a better balance, but the cold truth is that throughout the developing world this is the awkward choice being faced.
One hundred and five families live off the Antero Regalado cooperative farm, bringing in about $2,000 each a year.
Juan Miguel Garcia is the co-operative director. "For us this system is the best one because they provide us with free education and free health," he enthuses.
"The son in my family, who is a farmer, can study and become a doctor or an agronomist and for this we have all the support of the government and all the institutions."
Given the stories of war, famine and riots elsewhere in the world, this cooperative wants Cuba to stay the way it is.
Ten years ago this system was being ridiculed everywhere.
Now, the world is not so sure.
"The government is aware of the problems of the people and it supports us in everything, as for the girls working on the farm, they're training to be scientists or senior government officials."
And at least while the boss is around, the students sent to work on the Antero Regalado cooperative farm, approximately an hours drive from the capital, Havana, seem to agree.
"I would like to visit but not stay [in the west], says one girl, "I enjoy the peacefulness of my country and over there I believe they're very unrealistic."
A young mind in a bit of a dilemma - the bright and precarious lights of the west against the [so-called] stultifying straightjacket of socialism.
Not forgetting of course the health care perks they would lose.
"We've been vaccinated against typhoid, meningitis, hepatitis - 13 vaccinations in all," she continues.
Far from the upheavals of the post Cold War world, Cuba lives in a bygone age.
It is still ruled by Fidel Castro. Market and democratic reform are off the agenda. It's banned from getting international loans and aid, yet it has been praised by none other than the World Bank.
Praised, in fact, for bringing healthcare and education up to first world levels.
This way of life has now even been praised by the World Bank for delivering basic needs, where other systems have failed.
The debate focusing minds is this. Under an authoritarian system, if you speak out against it, you get punished. But your children will be taught how to read and write. They will be vaccinated against diseases. They will be given basic care.
Of course everybody would like there to be a better balance, but the cold truth is that throughout the developing world this is the awkward choice being faced.
One hundred and five families live off the Antero Regalado cooperative farm, bringing in about $2,000 each a year.
Juan Miguel Garcia is the co-operative director. "For us this system is the best one because they provide us with free education and free health," he enthuses.
"The son in my family, who is a farmer, can study and become a doctor or an agronomist and for this we have all the support of the government and all the institutions."
Given the stories of war, famine and riots elsewhere in the world, this cooperative wants Cuba to stay the way it is.
Ten years ago this system was being ridiculed everywhere.
Now, the world is not so sure.
Marxist_Mike
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