Cuban Gov. says Pandemic is Worse under Capitalism

HAVANA TIMES – The coronavirus pandemic is having the worst effects in capitalist systems. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel made that claim at the virtual UN General Assembly on Tuesday, reported dpa.

“[The] multidimensional crisis unleashed shows the great mistake of the dehumanized policies imposed by the market dictatorship,” Diaz-Canel said.

The pandemic’s “devastating economic and social effects are lethal among the most vulnerable and those with lower incomes.”

The Cuban president called for a reform of the UN. He urged it to “resume the just struggle to write off the uncollectable foreign debt.” He added, “the social and economic effects of the pandemic, threaten the survival of the peoples of the south.”

Diaz-Canel said Cuba’s health system was prepared to cope with the pandemic. He also stressed the country’s efforts to contribute to the global fight against it.

“Cuba sent 3,700 workers distributed in 46 medical brigades to 39 countries and territories hit by Covid-19,” he said.

The Cuban president delivered a scathing attack on his government’s arch enemy, the United States. He called it “a markedly aggressive and morally corrupt regime that despises and attacks multilateralism.” 

He also said Washington had “brutally tightened” its blockade against Cuba in the last two years.

The Caribbean island has so far confirmed 5,200 coronavirus infections and 117 deaths.

Medical care is free of charge in the country, which has 59 doctors for every 100,000 inhabitants. That figure, according to the World Health Organization, is the highest density of doctors in the world.

Read more news and commentary from Cuba here.