BBC interview, medica
A solid BBC interview with Morales written up by the news guy, Paul Mason, on his blog.
Today a Cuban medico-administrator took me on a tour of a couple very rural medical centres where Cuban doctors are providing free care in communities that have never seen doctors. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to interview any patients. (It turns out they don't spend a lot of time in the centres, as they aren't used to having doctors around; the doctors are generally going to them...) So I still need to do some more on-the-ground research before hopefully talking with the ambassador, health minister, etc. I'm banking on finding more around Cocha--and some patients.
90% of the doctors are working in medical centres or medical posts, which are extremely small (a few rooms, a nurse, maybe some nursing students) and provide only primary care; this is also where they sleep. The medecine they bring is paid for by Cuba, which also pays them a food stipend. And of course, these doctors coordinate with the broader Mision Milagros (Miracle Mission) program, where Cuban doctors surgically remove cataracts, so that if someone with this problem is discovered in the middle of nowhere, s/he gets access to the free eye treatment in El Alto.
Outside a few public programs (universal care for pregnant mothers and young children), you have to pay to see the doctor in Bolivia. Unless, since early February, the doctor is Cuban. I'm told people really like that.
One tragic downside is that these poor Cubans are suffering in the cold. Though they put on a brave face.
Labels:
Bolivia,
Latin America
4 comments:
Thank you for letting us know more about the situation there. The Cuban doctors deserve accolades for their dedication. The long-suffering Bolivians deserve all the help they can get.
Personally, I feel the leftist shift in S. America is a good thing. As a result, gradually a more egalitarian, just society will emerge.
Best regards to you and the people you meet.
amd
verbena-19
(Sorry, I shouldn't post comments when too tired.)
The above should have read:
..."As a result, hopefully, more democratic, egalitarian, just societies will emerge."
amd
hey daniel, its a slow day at spartacus, so i am reading an article in Z magazine entitled "Bolivia and the progressive mandate in latin america" by Ben Dangl and Mark Engler, and of course thinking of you.
particularly of interst has been this passage, which i will attempt to transcribe.
"The independence of civil society marks a critical difference between bolivia and venezuela. leaders in the new morales government and in the country's social movements have been quick to assert that bolivian political landscape under a MAS administration will be very distinct from that seen in caracas. in an interview with the spanish news agency EFE, incoming vice president alvaro garcia linera argued that, while in cuba and venezuela the 'civil society has been constructed by the state,' bolivian civil society is almost enitirely grassroots. linera described the country's recent political experience as a 'construction of multiple social movements with a far-reaching trajectory, and an organizational and autonomous capacity, that little by little has been pressuring the state and eventually occupying it.'
Oscar Olivera, the social movement leader in cochabamba, explained, 'we aren't fighting to govern, we're fighting to make the government disappear and self-govern ourselves'. when asked if he was interested in helping transform bolivia into another venezuela, he said :'i don't believe in military leaders, or ex-military leaders (such as chavez). every country is different, and has its own culture and history. many people in the media treat chavez as though he were the best thing possible. but the leader is one the and the people are another.'"
lets talk about that. i am interested in grassroots movements and the appropriation of these movements by both domestic political elites as well as international (state sponsored) movements in an effort to lend ligitimacy to systems in transition. what are your some of your observations about this?
seriously, curious to know.
love,
rachel
hey rachel, thanks for the transcription; i think i've seen that article around somewhere and have been meaning to read it. the dichotomy of boli and vene in terms of the nature of social movements matches almost exactly my own thinking on the subject. that said, the VP quoted above is also the head of a tiny cabal that's rumoured to make almost all the decisions of the morales gov't; and oscar olivera recently accused morales of tear-gassing his friends. the morales government is convening a constituent assemble to change the constitution in the direction social movements, generally, would like. and yet, there was a hunger strike by small groups, like afro-bolivians, who are protesting their exclusion.
so it'll be interesting to see how this relationship between social movements and the government plays out. but there's no question, it's a dynamic you don't have anywhere else in la, at least as far as i know.
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