The evolution of Cuban medical diplomacy

A. Boreyko
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The author examines the evolution of Cuban medical diplomacy under the governments of Raul Castro and Miguel Diaz-Canel. The author shows that the essence of the Cuban national health system, which developed after the 1959 Revolution, is its accessibility. At the time of collapse of the socialist bloc, the Cuban government managed to maintain and surpass the achieved level of development of medicine. The presence of a large number of medical specialists allows the socialist government of Cuba to organize cooperation with dozens of states around the world. Under the leadership of Castro, the export of medical goods and services has become the main source of foreign exchange earnings and a driver of economic growth, and medical diplomacy has become an important tool of soft power, which is used to form an attractive image of the state among the world community. In doing so, the government combines pragmatism, increasing the cost-effectiveness of the programs, and altruism, providing gratuitous aid to the countries most in need. The main difficulty in developing this direction in Cuba’s foreign policy is associated with the North American embargo. In 2018, the US government launched a large-scale campaign to discredit Cuban medical internationalism. This policy aims to further restrict already limited access to essential resources. The country was also negatively affected by the ‘right turn’ in the region: the neoliberal governments of several countries refused to continue medical cooperation with Cuba. At the same time, the trends of recent years indicate an imminent repetition of the shift to the left, which in the future can significantly strengthen the Cuban positions in the region. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic showed that the world community needs a rapid medical response force with Cuban missions serving as a basis thereof.
古巴医疗外交的演变
作者考察了在劳尔·卡斯特罗和米格尔·迪亚兹-卡内尔政府领导下古巴医疗外交的演变。作者指出,1959年革命后发展起来的古巴国家卫生系统的本质是其可及性。在社会主义阵营崩溃的时候,古巴政府设法保持并超越了医学发展的既定水平。大量医学专家的存在使古巴社会主义政府能够与世界上几十个国家组织合作。在卡斯特罗的领导下,医疗产品和服务出口成为古巴外汇收入的主要来源和经济增长的动力,医疗外交成为古巴软实力的重要工具,在国际社会中形成了具有吸引力的国家形象。在这样做的过程中,政府结合了实用主义,提高项目的成本效益和利他主义,向最需要的国家提供无偿援助。在古巴外交政策中发展这一方向的主要困难与北美的禁运有关。2018年,美国政府发起了一场大规模运动,诋毁古巴的医疗国际主义。这项政策旨在进一步限制本已有限的获取基本资源的途径。古巴还受到该地区"右转"的不利影响:若干国家的新自由主义政府拒绝继续与古巴进行医疗合作。与此同时,近年来的趋势表明,向左派的转变即将再次发生,这在将来可以大大加强古巴在该区域的地位。此外,冠状病毒大流行表明,国际社会需要一支以古巴特派团为基础的快速医疗反应部队。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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