Monday, April 09, 2007

Doctors in Panama

The L.A. Times has a story about U.S. reservists giving medical treatment in Panama. It’s possible that 50% more people will be treated than in 2005. According to the U.S. ambassador, this has nothing to do with Castro or Chávez, but rather it’s just about telling the world what great things we’re doing.

But you can imagine the meetings that took place. OK, Chávez and Castro keep sending all these doctors, and it seems poor people like doctors. So let’s send some too, and throw in some dentists and even a vet. No, wait, Chávez had this eye glasses program that everyone liked, so toss in an optometrist too. Now, call in the press, and make sure you tell them this isn’t a competition.

Regardless, as the top Panamanian health official noted, he had no problem being in the middle of a battle for more medical treatment.

9 comments:

Anonymous,  4:06 PM  

At least the American doctors don't have to worry about some government pinhead watching their every move to prevent the doctors from defecting. It is only fair to mention that many of these Cuban doctors who are supposedly Fidel's most valued assets are trying to escape Cuba and head to the USA. Fidel's generosity only goes so far, I guess.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7492240


As the old saying goes, no one ever tried to scale the Berlin Wall from West to East.

Justin Delacour 10:00 PM  

Nobody tries to scale the wall from the United States into capitalist Mexico either.

At the end of the day, all you're really saying is that people prefer to live in rich countries. What a stellar insight.

Greg Weeks 7:27 AM  

It's not true that people prefer to live in rich countries. People tend to prefer to stay where they are.

boz 7:45 AM  

There's actually over 100,000 Americans living in Mexico and that number is expected to rise to over a half million over the next 10-15 years.

Justin Delacour 4:13 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Justin Delacour 4:35 PM  

"It's not true that people prefer to live in rich countries. People tend to prefer to stay where they are."

Granted. Let's just say that people in poor countries are more likely to try to relocate to rich countries than people in rich countries are to try to relocate to poor countries. That much is elementary.

It's curious how the Castro-bashers love to point to Cuban immigration to the United States as evidence of the horrors of Latin American communism. Naturally, those same Castro-bashers will never point to massive Mexican and Central American immigration into the United States as evidence of the horrors of Latin American capitalism.

Greg Weeks 4:58 PM  

I bash both.

Justin Delacour 8:41 PM  

"I bash both."

Well, at least that's consistent.

Anonymous,  11:51 AM  

Are we actually debating the virtues of capitalism vs communism? I'm sorry, but didn't that debate die when the Berlin Wall fell? Even the Chinese "communists" run a capitalist society now. Castro is nothing more than a relic whose legacy will be one of oppression, murder, starvation, economic depression, and a brainwashed populace.

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