Letter from a slave doctor in Angola

A relative of a Cuban slave doctor, who was sent by the Castro regime to work in Angola, have sent me copy of a recent e-mail he received where the doctor explains how the Castro brothers exploit those who are forced to abandon their families and go work in foreign countries.

The name of the doctor has been omitted for obvious reasons. Here is a translation of what he said:

"Let me explain how the contract works. The Angolan government pays Cuba US$10,000 monthly for each doctor, but from that total, the Cuban government pays Angola's Ministry of Health US$6,000 per month to guarantee our housing and transportation. We have to pay for our own food. Of the US$4,000 left we only receive US$600, but 30% of the $600 is paid to an account in Cuba. I spend about US$150 buying food that I have to cook myself and if you check the phone bill, it cost around US$40 to call Cuba. As you can see, it is not easy."

Note - According to the relatives, the 30% that is paid in Cuba is in CUC Convertible Cuban Pesos that are worthless outside of Cuba.

Based on this breakdown, Cuba is receiving US$4,000 net after expenses for each doctor. The Cuban government pays US$420 ($600 less 30%) to the doctor and 180 CUC,  go to an account in Cuba.

And the difference, approximately US$3,400, goes to the pocket of Castro & Castro Slave Traders Unlimited.

Some exiled doctors that I've talked to believe that the figure that the Cuban government pays for the "housing and transportation" seems high and is probably what the government told the doctor.

If that's the case, the difference that goes to the Castro brothers pockets could be even higher.

Multiply that by the thousands of Cuban doctors who are currently working in foreign countries and you can understand why Forbes lists Fidel Castro as one of the world's richest dictators.

Next time you hear one of those foreign ignorant talking about the "generosity" of Cuba's leaders in "sharing" thousands of Cuban doctors to help the poor and the needy around the world, show them this letter.

An American reporter writes about the medical apartheid that she witnessed in Cuba

Those of you who saw Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko," would remember the scene where Moore and his guests walked into a Cuban pharmacy and asked for an asthma medication, Salbutemol, and immediately the clerk opens a drawer and gives it to one of the guests, a woman from New York, who then begins to cry when she learns that in Cuba that medicine costs only a fraction of what it costs in New York. According to Moore, his guests received the "the same care" that any regular Cuban would receive, "no more, no less."

But the scene at the Cuban pharmacy, as the whole portion of Sicko filmed in Cuba, was a fallacy conceived, scripted, staged and rehearsed by the Cuban regime with Moore's acting the part of the useful idiot.

In an article titled "Catching a cold in Cuba," Sally Melcher Jarvis, a correspondent for a Pennsylvanian newspaper who went to Cuba in November of 2007 accompanying a humanitarian mission organized by a local museum, found out about the apartheid that regular Cubans are suffering since Castro turned them into second class citizens in their own country.

Here is part of what she wrote: "It wasn't much of a cold; just the kind that would get better by itself in a week. In the meantime it was a nuisance with a cough and stuffy nose. A little over-the-counter remedy would help.....There were no over-the-counter remedies to be had. I asked the guide what Cubans did if they had a cold. The guide said that a Cuban would go to the doctor — a visit free of charge — who would write a prescription for aspirin. However, there would be no way to fill the prescription. We visited a pharmacy later in the trip. Behind the counter five well-dressed Cuban women waited to serve, but the shelves were empty. The only items in sight were the monthly ration of sanitary napkins, 10 permitted per Cuban woman per month.

It was like being in a dream where two different things can happen at the same time. We were in a two-tier system: one for the privileged (tourists, for example) and the other for those who lived and worked in socialist Cuba. Our luxurious state-owned hotel was closed to Cubans, except for those who worked there. A Cuban could not even come in for a meal.

It was depressing to see attractive and intelligent people restricted and denied opportunity in such an appealing land only 90 miles away from our country. The accident of birth has put me in a free country and I have never been so grateful."   Click here to read the entire article

Hannity and Colmes

For those of you who were not able to watch Hannity and Colmes' program about health care in Cuba for regular Cubans, here are Part I and Part II

Healthy in Cuba, Sick in America?

Anyone who's seen Michael Moore's film "Sicko" will recall the scene in which he shouts with a bullhorn as his boat takes a group of people, including Sept. 11 workers, to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where he says prisoners get better health care than Americans.

After the manned gun towers blow horns at Moore's boat, he takes the group to Havana, where his movie says socialized medicine — government-run medicine — is great for everyone. When Moore's group arrives in Havana, they are taken to a special section of a large showcase hospital. Moore says in the film, "I asked [the Havana hospital] to give us the same exact care they give their fellow Cuban citizens. No more, no less. And that's what they did."

Moore sat down with "20/20's" John Stossel and talked about that claim. When asked whether it really was an average hospital, Moore said, "Yes." "This isn't just me saying this, you know. All the world health organizations or whatever have confirmed that if there's one thing they do right in Cuba, it's health care," Moore said. "And there's very little debate about that." In fact, there is plenty of debate. Miami-based Cuban Human Rights activist Jose Carro says Moore's movie paints an inaccurate picture. More

At the end of this article you can post your comments. You will need to register by entering your e-mail and password.

You can also e-mail John Stossel here: JohnStossel@abcnews.com

And it is important that you also post your opinions on the chatroom: Click here

Make sure that you voice your opinions! We have always complained that the main street media has ignored the tragedy of the Cuban people. If ABC is taking a first step in showing the reality of Cuba, we need to tell them about our experiences and give them our support.

More videos taken inside the hospitals for regular Cubans (Updated 10/15)

These videos were taken during the month of August 2007.

Let's see what the Castro apologists will say now.

Those apologists who have been saying for 49 years that it is OK for Cubans not to have human rights, not to be able to choose their system of government, not to have a free press, not to be able to criticize the brutal regime oppressing them, because after all they do have " a free and excellent health care."

Now you will be able to see how these people have lied!

There are 50+ videos, I will keep posting them as time permits. Please check the website often for updates.

Rooms for patients taken at the 10 de Octubre and Miguel Enriquez hospitals.

Exterior Front of Miguel Enriquez Hospital Notice the garments hanging from windows; broken windows; near the end of the video there is a view of the inside staircases and you can see that the exterior panel glasses are missing. Some pieces of wood have been placed on the floor against these windows to prevent people from falling.

Video #1 This video was filmed inside the 10 de Octubre Hospital (formerly known as "La Dependiente") in Havana, Cuba.

This is a hospital for regular Cubans, very different from those hospitals for foreigners and tourists where regular Cubans are not allowed.

In the video, a relative of another patient is told by a nurse to watch when the patient on the next bed stops breathing, because that would be a signal that he was dead.

If you watch closely, 24 seconds into the video, you'll see a fly landing on top of the dead patient's pajamas.

Elevators This video was taken at the Miguel Enriquez Hospital in Havana. Only one of the elevators is functioning. The panel glasses at the end of the hall by the elevators are missing and now they have placed some pieces of wood on the floor and against the window to prevent someone from falling down.

Room at the Miguel Enriquez Hospital  This room at the Miguel Enriquez Hospital (Formerly known as Benefica) happened to be empty at the time and it was possible to take a more detailed video. Notice the filthy conditions of the bathroom; the mattresses; pieces of plastic and rags covering the broken windows.

Another example of the "great health facilities" that Castro has built for the Cuban people

On May 20, 1989, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro inaugurated the new maternity ward at the Julio Trigo Hospital in Arroyo Naranjo, near Havana.

It was a very modern facility with 425 beds. Here is what he said at the time: "Well, I think we have a magnificent hospital facility. It was finished a few weeks ago and has already started to render services, except the inauguration was delayed a little. That's fine though because we are still on time. I was saying that it is a magnificent hospital facility. I asked the public health investor: How does it compare with other maternity hospitals? He said to me: Undoubtedly, this is the best one in Cuba. This is logical because I think that every new thing we make should be better.... As with every one of these hospitals, there will be something that will be amended, there will be things that are perfected. Even though they are similar projects, there is no doubt that each one will be better than the other. Here, however, we have the best maternity-infant hospital in the country."

That was in 1989. Do you want to see how "the best maternity-infant hospital" in Cuba looks now?

Click here if you want to read what Castro said when this hospital was inaugurated

 

Cuban health care in decline - Washington Post photo gallery Click here

 

"Moreover, in a country that is generally praised for its universal health care, hospitals are falling apart, patients must buy their own sutures on the black market and it is almost impossible to find common medications such as Aspirin and antibiotics." Click here to read the article Click here to hear the audio

Thanks to cubaverdad.net for the links

 

"Bad Cuban Medicine"

Too often, for lack of medicine, doctors have no choice but to amputate limbs, or to put patients through painful therapies without painkillers. In one celebrated case, Dr. Hilda Molina, the founder of Havana's International Center for Neurological Restoration, returned the medals that Fidel Castro had awarded her for her work and resigned in protest, outraged that Cubans were denied critical care in order to treat foreigners.  Click here

 

In 2007, there was another dengue epidemic in Cuba

Click here to see this video of how cars are being stopped on the road to Cienfuegos to be fumigated

Click here to watch this big truck spraying insecticide in another Cuban town

But in the meantime, you still see garbage all over the place, the hospitals are so full that they cannot accept more patients, and the medical offices warn their patients that they have run out of medicines. And the Castro regime refuses to acknowledge the crisis.

The five photos below were taken by Dr. Darsi Ferrer, Director, Centro de Salud y Derechos Humanos "Juan Bruno Zayas"

Garbage and pools of water everywhere. The perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.		Inside a medical office where children are being treated
A medical office with a sign warning patients that there are no prescriptions available	A medical office for Cuban patients

Thanks to Stefania for the photos.

 

And before any Castro apologist comes here to tell me that the reason why there are no medicines and no modern hospitals to treat Cubans is because of the embargo, read this article in Prensa Latina on Sunday, October 1, 2006:

 

"Twenty More Hospitals Equipped by Cuba in Bolivia"

"La Paz - Oct. 1-Twenty more hospitals equipped by Cuba will join a previous 20 supplied by the Cuban government to Bolivia this year, said Cuban Ambassador to Bolivia Rafael Dausa here Sunday.

The announcement was made by Dausa here during the opening of a diagnosis center in San Cristobal, in the Bolivian southern department of Potosi, at which Bolivian President Evo Morales was also present." Click here

 

How can Castro equip 20 hospitals in Bolivia while Cubans do not have medicines and their hospitals and medical facilities are falling apart and using equipment that is obsolete? How can anyone still say that this old tyrant is a nationalist who has the best interest of the Cuban people in mind?

 

In this video, a Cuban lady explains hat she had to bring her own bed sheets, towels, soap and many times there was not even water Click here (Spanish)

 

Read this article in American Diplomacy about healthcare in Castro's Cuba: Doctors for Dollars

 

And a later update: Questions and answers

 

New photos taken at the hospitals for Cubans

A Hospital in Placetas. Look at the mattresses	At the same hospital in Placetas	The hospital kitchen!	The hospital in Placetas where the previous photos were taken	The town pharmacy in Placetas
Photo taken at Holguin's psychiatric hospital	At the same Holguin hospital	At another Cuban hospital. This one is for elderly people	This photo was taken at one of these hospitals, but I honestly don't have an idea of what this machine is. ** See note below	I believe this was taken at the hospital's laundry room, but I'm not sure.

**From one of our readers, Ned, in reference to the second to the last photo:

"The "mystery" instrument in the hospital photo is an ancient spectrophotometer, possibly one called a Klett, which was considered obsolete in the US about 30 years ago. It ought to be in a museum! It is used for routine chemistry determinations and was in general use in the US about 50 years ago."

Note.- Since Castro has been in power for almost 50 years, this instrument was probably at this hospital prior to 1959. Hospitals for foreigners have the most modern equipment, but to treat the poor Cubans any obsolete equipment is good enough because they cannot pay the dictator in hard currency.

 

These incredible photos below were taken by María Elena Morejón and were included in an article written by Carlos Wotzkow that appeared in www.gentiuno.com on March 6 of 2005.

They were taken at Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Joaquin Albarran in Havana. Here are these amazing photographs that once again prove that those who say that Cubans are receiving great healthcare thanks to Castro, don't know what they are talking about:

Restrooms and showers in the Emergency Room. These facilities are used by patients and hospital personnel
Part of the Emergency Room	Gentiuno reporters counted 27 dead roaches on the floor	Desk used by the physician on duty
The examination room		This is the room where blood samples are taken
The lab to conduct blood analysis		Electric and phone wires are hanging everywhere
	If the lack of hygiene doesn't kill you....	....you may get electrocuted on your way out
Those black marks on the curtain separating the bed of this patient from the bed of his roommate ARE FLIES!	File cabinets used to store orthopedic products that would later be used by patients
None of the public phones in the lobby were working the day that Gentiuno reporters visited the hospital	Open receptacle with soiled garments inside the operating room	The recovery room. The fan was brought by the patient and had to be plugged from a ceiling lamp
	The ceiling of the recovery room	The baseboard in the recovery room. It was last cleaned before Castro came to power in 1959
Washbasin used by doctors who treat orthopedic patients	Photo taken in the orthopedic room	Washbasin in the orthopedic room
This used to be the utility room, but it is now being used as the shower for patients

These next four photos were taken at a hospital in Placetas and are further proof of the big differences between the hospitals for tourists and foreigners and these hospitals for regular Cubans. 

 

Now, compare the facilities above with "La Pradera International Health Center," one of the

health facilities built by Castro for the exclusive use of those foreigners who can pay him

with hard currency.

Many foreigners still believe that the facilities used by regular Cubans are the same as the

those that they use and when they return to their countries they help spread Castro's lies and

propaganda about the "excellent free healthcare" that Cubans receive

		And that is why foreigners like Maradona will kiss the hands of their 'godfather,' while regular Cubans continue to be treated worse than animals

While Cubans are treated worse than animals at Cuba's hospitals, the Castro regime advertises its excellent health care for foreigners who can afford to pay the dictator in hard currency. The Cuban regime has even opened offices in several cities in South America and Europe to sell these services. This is a website of one of those sales offices in Santiago, Chile. Look at all the services that are being offered to those Chileans who can pay Castro in hard currency and compare that with the 'services' that regular Cubans receive. 

Click here

 

"But at least the healthcare is free"

Photos courtesy of Bitacora Cubana

Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramírez, Director of the Juan Bruno Zayas Health and Human Rights Center in Havana, sent these photos of Yamilet Fernandez Donate, a 32 year old Cuban woman who almost died after complaining last November 27 of abdominal pain and entering one of Havana's hospitals for Cubans. At the time, Mrs. Fernandez was six weeks pregnant and wasn't suffering from any diagnosed illness. She entered the Hospital Nacional in Havana where she was given intravenous analgesics and was sent home when the pain subsided.

A few hours later, Yamilet's abdominal pain got much worse and she was also running a fever. She went to the Hijas de Galicia Maternity Hospital. There she was told that her pain was not related to her pregnancy and that she should see the surgeon on duty at the Miguel Enriques Hospital. In there, she was told that she was suffering from Acute Gastritis and the doctors recommended a gastric suction (stomach pumping or gastric lavage) and after the procedure she was told to go home that everything was now OK.

When Yamilet got much worse, her family took her to the Julio Trigo Hospital. Once there, the doctors told her that what she really had was an Urinary Infection and said that the best thing was to send her back to the Hospital Nacional. In the next couple of days Yamilet's health got much worse. She was in constant pain and running a high fever. She was vomiting, had muscular fatigue and even fainted several times. After the family kept complaining, the doctors decided to operate the poor woman and they finally determined that she had a perforated appendix, peritonitis and an intestinal occlusion.

After the operation she spent several days in the intensive care unit and later had to have another surgery due to several complications that resulted from the first one. Several days later the doctors told her that they had to perform an abortion. At the end, and because of the negligence of her doctors, Yamilet lost her baby and also portions of her intestine and colon. She also has very ugly scars on her abdomen to remind her of the pain and suffering that she had to endure at the hands of these butchers dressed as doctors. Castro has sent thousands of Cuban doctors to Venezuela and many other countries of South America and Africa. And now Cubans who get sick have to endure not only the lack of medicines, but also the lack of qualified medical practitioners. Of course, those 'doctors' don't have to worry about a malpractice lawsuit since they work for the Cuban regime and the victims don't have any right to complain about their "free healthcare." Next time that you hear one of Castro's apologists saying that Cubans receive "excellent free healthcare" show them Yamilet's photos and the story of what she went through.

 

Don't blame the embargo for the lack of medical equipment in Cuba's hospitals

Those who still are trying to defend the indefensible claim that the reason why Cuba's hospital lack the necessary equipment and supplies to treat regular Cubans is because of the US embargo. But that is another lie perpetrated by Castro's propaganda machine. Have you ever heard of "Combiomed?

The headquarters for Combiomed are located at what the Castro regime refers to as "the scientific pole of East Havana." According to its website, more than 12,000 medical equipment manufactured by Combiomed is being used in many countries around the world "and this number increases by several hundred each month." And what type of medical equipment are we talking about? Equipment that is not available at the hospitals that treat regular Cubans.

Equipment for stress tests		Defibrillators
Equipment to test blood pressure	Equipment to monitor patients
Pulse oximeters	Equipment to treat ulcers	Tele-medicine equipment