16th April 2000

Priorities- get them straight

Neither the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 nor the triumph of capitalism over socialism in the post-Cold War era have deterred the aging Castro from abandoning his political and socialist ideals.

In the 1960s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pulled out virtually everything in its bag of dirty tricks to oust Castro - even making an attempt to surreptitiously introduce a chemical powder into his shoes so that his trade mark beard would fall off making him "a laughing stock of the Communist world."

In a hilarious spoof written in its aftermath, the late Mervyn de Silva concocted a fictitious Hollywood-style plot in which the Americans would use former Foreign Minister A.C.S. Hameed, then chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to deliver a plate of doctored haalmassos (sprats) to Castro with possibly the same devastating effect as the chemicals.

Hameed was known to relish his haalmassos everytime he passed through New York on his way to Havana.

But the redoubtable Castro survived them all- including a rigid US embargo imposed on his country 37 years ago which has all but crippled his economy.

Last week it was UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's turn to praise Castro, as he singled out Cuba as one of the few developing nations with "impressive" achievements in social development.

Annan said that Cuba's achievements in health, education and literacy were all the more significant given the size of its domestic product per capita and the suffering the country has undergone since the US imposed economic embargo of July 1963.

As the human development index of the UN makes clear year after year, he said, "Cuba should be the envy of many other nations ostensibly far richer."

With a population of about 11.1 million, Cuba's per capita income is about 1,300 dollars, but its life expectancy at birth is a high of 76 and its adult literacy rate a hefty 96 percent, both higher than Sri Lanka.

Annan, who was in Havana for a meeting of Third World leaders of the Group of 77, said Cuba's success does not alleviate the need for a global economic and political environment that is more conducive to the countries of the South. "But it does demonstrate how much nations can do with the resources they have if they focus on the right priorities - health, education and literacy," he added.

Since the UN considers governance including multiparty elections and transparency an important element in Third World economic development, Annan made a strong pitch for democracy while in Havana.

"A state that denies itself open democratic processes and institutions will thereby impede the development and progress of its people, denying them the chance to interact fully with the wider world," he told Third World leaders, including Castro. Since the Cuban revoluion in 1959, however, Cuba has remained a one party state led by Castro.

Perhaps he still subscribes to the view longheld by Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew that what most Third World nations need for economic development is not democracy but discipline.

In its "State of the World's Children, 2000" released last December, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that even in countries that have robust economic growth, poverty is paralysing ever greater numbers, as in parts of Latin America, where the poorest 20 percent of people share less than 3.0 percent of the national income.

But Cuba has been an exception. Along with countries such as Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, Cuba has shown that, even against international political odds, "consistent policies aimed at providing a solid foundation of social services pay off in better health conditions and higher literacy rates than those found in many countries with greater economic resources." Addressing some of Cuba's leading economists, scientists and academics at the University of Havana, the Secretary-General said that Cuba may be among the world's smaller nations in terms of population and size, but its geography and history have given it a special place in the global consciousness.

Recalling his meeting with Castro earlier in the day, Annan said that the Cuban leader had urged with passion that in speaking of governance, "we should not overlook those actions of a government which promote the well being of individuals in society such as accessible and affordable education, universal health care, and the availability of various means to fulfill human potential."

Low infant mortality and universal literacy are themselves indicators of successful human development.

"I do not think that any fair minded person would disagree with President Castro on the importance of these factors," he added.

The basic goal of the 1963 US embargo was to isolate Cuba economically and deprive it of American dollars.

Under the law, those violating the embargo face penalties up to 10 years in prison and one million dollars in corporate fines and 250,000 dollars in individual fines. The embargo has caused considerable devasatation to the fragile Cuban economy.