>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Fri, 18 May 2001 15:57:26 -0400 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Jim Stanford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: PEF: Cuba wins World Bank Commendations >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Status: > >Dear PEF Members & Friends; > >PEF Steering Committee member Hassan Bougrine has forwarded the following >item. It seems that the developing country which has done the best at >improving the concrete living conditions of its citizens, is the one whose >policies are the utter antithesis of everything the World Bank argues >for. Go figure. Mind you, when the World Bank starts commending you, that >may be the first sign that things are starting to fall apart! > >>____________ >> Washington (IPS) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn >> > Monday extolled the Communist government of President Fidel >> > Castro for doing ''a great job'' in providing for the social welfare of >> > the Cuban people. >> > His remarks followed Sunday's publication of the Bank's 2001 >> > edition of 'World Development Indicators' (WDI), which showed >> > Cuba as topping virtually all other poor countries in health and >> > education statistics. >> > It also showed that Havana has actually improved its >> > performance in both areas despite the continuation of the US trade >> > embargo against it and the end of Soviet aid and subsidies for the >> > Caribbean island more than ten years ago. >> > ''Cuba has done a great job on education and health,'' >> > Wolfensohn told reporters at the conclusion of the annual spring >> > meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). >> > ''They have done a good job, and it does not embarrass me to >> > admit it.'' >> > His remarks reflect a growing appreciation in the Bank for >> > Cuba's social record, despite recognition that Havana's economic >> > policies are virtually the antithesis of the ''Washington Consensus'', >> > the neo-liberal orthodoxy that has dominated the Bank's policy >> > advice and its controversial structural adjustment programmes >> > (SAPs) for most of the last 20 years. >> > Some senior Bank officers, however, go so far as to suggest >> > that other developing countries should take a very close look at >> > Cuba's performance. >> > ''It is in some sense almost an anti-model,'' according to Eric >> > Swanson, the programme manager for the Bank's Development >> > Data Group, which compiled the WDI, a tome of almost 400 pages >> > covering scores of economic, social, and environmental indicators. >> > Indeed, Cuba is living proof in many ways that the Bank's >> > dictum that economic growth is a precondition for improving the >> > lives of the poor is over-stated, if not downright wrong. The Bank >> > has insisted for the past decade that improving the lives of the poor >> > was its core mission. >> > Besides North Korea, Cuba is the one developing country >> > which, since 1960, has never received the slightest assistance, >> > either in advice or in aid, from the Bank. It is not even a member, >> > which means that Bank officers cannot travel to the island on >> > official business. >> > The island's economy, which suffered devastating losses in >> > production after the Soviet Union withdrew its aid, especially its oil >> > supplies, a decade ago, has yet to fully recover. Annual economic >> > growth, fuelled in part by a growing tourism industry and limited >> > foreign investment, has been halting and, for the most part, >> > anaemic. >> > Moreover, its economic policies are generally anathema to the >> > Bank. The government controls virtually the entire economy, >> > permitting private entrepreneurs the tiniest of spaces. It heavily >> > subsidises virtually all staples and commodities; its currency is not >> > convertible to anything. It retains tight control over all foreign >> > investment, and often changes the rules abruptly and for political >> > reasons. >> > At the same time, however, its record of social achievement has >> > not only been sustained; it's been enhanced, according to the WDI. >> > It has reduced its infant mortality rate from 11 per 1,000 >> > births in 1990 to seven in 1999, which places it firmly in the ranks >>of the >> > western industrialised nations. It now stands at six, according to Jo >> > Ritzen, the Bank's Vice President for Development Policy who >> > visited Cuba privately several months ago to see for himself. >> > By comparison, the infant mortality rate for Argentina stood at >> > 18 in 1999; Chile's was down to ten; and Costa Rica, 12. For the >> > entire Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole, the >> > average was 30 in 1999. >> > Similarly, the mortality rate for children under five in Cuba >> > has fallen from 13 to eight per thousand over the decade. That figure is >> > 50 percent lower than the rate in Chile, the Latin American country >> > closest to Cuba's achievement. For the region as a whole, the >> > average was 38 in 1999. >> > ''Six for every 1,000 in infant mortality - the same level as >> > Spain - is just unbelievable,'' according to Ritzen, a former education >> > minister in the Netherlands. ''You observe it, and so you see that >> > Cuba has done exceedingly well in the human development area.'' >> > Indeed, in Ritzen's own field the figures tell much the same >> > story. Net primary enrolment for both girls and boys reached 100 >> > percent in 1997, up from 92 percent in 1990. That was as high as >> > most developed nations, higher even than the US rate and well >> > above 80-90 percent rates achieved by the most advanced Latin >> > American countries. >> > ''Even in education performance, Cuba's is very much in tune >> > with the developed world, and much higher than schools in, say, >> > Argentina, Brazil, or Chile.'' >> > It is no wonder, in some ways. Public spending on education in >> > Cuba amounts to about 6.7 percent of gross national income, twice >> > the proportion in other Latin America and Caribbean countries and >> > even Singapore. >> > There were 12 primary pupils for every Cuban teacher in 1997, >> > a ratio that ranked with Sweden, rather than any other developing >> > country. The Latin American and East Asian average was twice as >> > high at 25 to one. >> > The average youth (ages 15-24) illiteracy rate in Latin America >> > and the Caribbean stands at seven percent. In Cuba, the rate is >> > zero. In Latin America, where the average is seven percent, only >> > Uruguay approaches that achievement, with one percent youth >> > illiteracy. >> > ''Cuba managed to reduce illiteracy from 40 percent to zero >> > within ten years,'' said Ritzen. ''If Cuba shows that it is possible, it >> > >> > shifts the burden of proof to those who say it's not possible.'' >> > Similarly, Cuba devoted 9.1 percent of its gross domestic >> > product (GDP) during the 1990s to health care, roughly equivalent >> > to Canada's rate. Its ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1,000 people was the >> > highest in the world. >> > The question that these statistics pose, of course, is whether >> > the Cuban experience can be replicated. The answer given here is >> > probably not. >> > ''What does it is the incredible dedication,'' according to >> > Wayne Smith, who was head of the US Interests Section in Havana in the >> > late 1970s and early 1980s and has travelled to the island many >> > times since. ''Doctors in Cuba can make more driving cabs and >> > working in hotels, but they don't. They're just very dedicated,'' he >> > said. >> > Ritzen agreed that the Cuban experience probably cannot be >> > applied wholesale to another poor country, but insisted that >> > developing countries can learn a great deal by going to the island. >> > ''Is the experience of Cuba useful in other countries? The >> > answer is clearly yes, and one is hopeful that political barriers >> > would not prevent the use of the Cuban experience in other >> > countries. ''Here, I am pretty hopeful, in that I see many developing >> > countries taking the Cuban experience well into account.'' >> > But the Cuban experience may not be replicable, he went on, >> > because its ability to provide so much social support ''may not be >> > easy to sustain in the long run''. >> > ''It's not so much that the economy may collapse and be unable >> > to support such a system, as it is that any transition after Castro >> > passes from the scene would permit more freedom for people to >> > pursue their desires for a higher standard of living.'' The trade-off, >> > according to Ritzen, may work against the welfare system which >> > exists now. >> > ''It is a system which on the one hand is extremely productive >> > in social areas and which, on the other, does not give people >> > opportunities for more prosperity.''(END/IPS/DV/IF/jl/da/01) >> > >> > ---- >> > >> > [c] 2001, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) >> > All rights reserved >
