Tighter Restrictions On Cubans

It should come as no surprise that another Republican, Florida House Representative David Rivera, has weighed in with yet another proposal to make a hard life even harder for members of his community - the Cuban community.

According to a recent Associated Press article, Rivera says that, "Cubans who travel home to see their families should not qualify for the Cuban Adjustment Act." This act was created to provide political asylum.

I just look at this as "old news" generated by another one of the hardliners who cannot accept the fact that the half century old Cuban embargo has not worked, is not working, and was doomed to failure from the beginning. What did garner my attention was the Rivera statement that many Cubans who arrive in the United States travel home to not only visit family, but for tourism and even for medical procedures.

Medical procedures? How can this even be possible; leaving a country with supposedly the best health care system in the world to seek treatment in a third world country? Wikipedia has reported, "Like the rest of the Cuban economy, numerous reports have shown that Cuban medical care has long suffered from severe material shortages caused by the US embargo. The ending of Soviet subsidies in the early 1990s has also affected it."

And yet, "Cuba has been serving health tourists from around the world for more than 20 years. The country operates a special division of hospitals specifically for the treatment of foreigners and diplomats. Foreign patients travel to Cuba for a wide range of treatments including eye-surgery, neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease, cosmetic surgery, addictions treatment, retinitis pigmentosa and orthopaedics. Most patients are from Latin America, Europe and Canada, and a growing number of Americans also are coming."

A few of the reasons that people travel to Cuba for health care is that, unlike the United States, it is affordable, there is an abundance of doctors, and even with a shortage of medical equipment and supplies caused by the embargo, the Cuban health care system has been lauded for its high quality. Truth be told, that high quality is often denied to the Cuban citizens, even though their health care services are free.

It is encouraging to note that some of the "health tourist" dollars are in turn transferred to health care for ordinary Cubans. Hard currency payments by foreigners have financed the construction of new hospital facilities; anecdotal evidence suggests that this pattern is common in Cuban hospitals.

None of this is meant to suggest that Cuban health care is perfect. There are still serious problems that need to be addressed, but is the continued embargo going to enable the Cuban people to address these issues? If tourist dollars are already helping the Cuban people, would it not make sense for this country to end a losing policy?

The answer is a resounding, YES! Will we end the embargo? Not with people like Rivera holding public office.