The Cuban Revolution and its Achievements in the Face of Heinous Aggression

A 1985 interview has resurfaced of Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders saying that “not everything about the Cuban Revolution was bad”, and rival candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg are pouncing on these comments, citing them as evidence of Sanders having an “affinity for a dictator.” They have condemned even the slightest praise of any of the programs Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro put into place, even his literacy program for the sizable portion of the population, many of them Afro-Cubans, who could not read. In reality, the literacy campaign and its success were but one of many aspects of the Cuban Revolution that should not only be applauded, but openly celebrated.

Despite the six decade embargo on the tiny socialist island, Cuba has managed to achieve a great deal. In the face of heinous acts against the people by the United States:

– Cuba brought the infant mortality rate down from 60 per thousand births to just 4.2 per thousand births, one of the lowest in the entire world (lower than in the US and Canada).
– 100% of the population is educated and only 3% unemployed.
– A larger portion of the GDP is spent on education than any country in the world.
– Cubans get free access to universal health care, housing and education. Women are guaranteed paid maternity and equal pay.
– The 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign raised Cuba’s literacy rate from 65% to 96% within just a few short years. The main beneficiaries were Afro-Cubans who’d been openly discriminated against before Castro abolished segregation when coming to power.
– Private property, land and industry were nationalized and used to benefit the people of Cuba.
– There are 15x more doctors since the US-backed dictator Batista was overthrown. Cuba has the best doctor-to-patient ratio in the entire world.
– Parent-to-child HIV transmission has been completely eliminated and a cure for lung cancer was developed.

This was all accomplished in the face of one of the longest and most brutal economic embargoes in history, which has cost the island over $1 trillion. The story of Cuba’s resistance against the United States empire is truly a David and Goliath story.