Castro, the Humanitarian
My old newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, today publishes a story from a correspondent in Havana by the name of Tom Fawthrop.
And yes, it's yet another case of a supposedly fearless and independent Western journalist basically regurgitating the Castro regime's propaganda. Consciously or otherwise.
I won't bore you with the details of the article, which you can read here.
The headline, which appears to have been lifted from Granma, says it all: "Impoverished Cuba sends doctors around the globe to help the poor".
Of course, I will be writing a letter to the editor, explaining that the 20,000 doctors sent to "help the poor" by Castro are in fact used by the regime as a cheap way of exchanging medical services for subsidised oil, etc, etc, etc.
But frankly, sometimes I ask myself, Why bother?
Why waste time I could otherwise spend with the family (it's Saturday in Sydney), or out in the backyard (it's Spring Down Under), or out for a walk ... Why bother?
Then you read headlines like this one in The Miami Herald today: "Cuba accused of slavelike labor deal".
According to the article, former shipyard workers have gone to court in the US alleging that the Castro regime conspired with a Curacao ship repair company to provide what can only be described as slave labour.
The workers, who managed to escape and make it to Florida, say they were paid the equivalent of $US16 a month to work 16 hour shifts, in harsh conditions and always under surveillance from Communist Party commissars.
Helping the poor, I assume ...
Now, I wonder if that story will make it into my old paper.
And yes, it's yet another case of a supposedly fearless and independent Western journalist basically regurgitating the Castro regime's propaganda. Consciously or otherwise.
I won't bore you with the details of the article, which you can read here.
The headline, which appears to have been lifted from Granma, says it all: "Impoverished Cuba sends doctors around the globe to help the poor".
Of course, I will be writing a letter to the editor, explaining that the 20,000 doctors sent to "help the poor" by Castro are in fact used by the regime as a cheap way of exchanging medical services for subsidised oil, etc, etc, etc.
But frankly, sometimes I ask myself, Why bother?
Why waste time I could otherwise spend with the family (it's Saturday in Sydney), or out in the backyard (it's Spring Down Under), or out for a walk ... Why bother?
Then you read headlines like this one in The Miami Herald today: "Cuba accused of slavelike labor deal".
According to the article, former shipyard workers have gone to court in the US alleging that the Castro regime conspired with a Curacao ship repair company to provide what can only be described as slave labour.
The workers, who managed to escape and make it to Florida, say they were paid the equivalent of $US16 a month to work 16 hour shifts, in harsh conditions and always under surveillance from Communist Party commissars.
Helping the poor, I assume ...
Now, I wonder if that story will make it into my old paper.
posted by Luis M Garcia at 5:53 pm
2 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
You bother because 20 million Australians are being misled (just like the rest of the world) about what the Cuban reality is. You bother because you know you have the knowledge and the ability to help change that.
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