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Cuba banned Sicko for depicting 'mythical' health system

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One of the Wikileaks diplomatic cables claimed that Cuba banned Michael Moore's Sicko for portraying a "mythical" healthcare system that was far superior to that available in the US. The specific reason for the ban is because Moore highlighted a state-of-the-art hospital which only people with connections and bribe money have access to, and Cuban officials feared this would cause greater resentment from the public.

The memo reveals that when the film was shown to a group of Cuban doctors, some became so "disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba that they left the room".

Castro's government apparently went on to ban the film because, the leaked cable claims, it "knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them."

Also, Moore released a response on his website, claiming that Cuba did not ban Sicko, and that the memo is all a lie to discredit the film and the Cuban healthcare system.

Edited by brian0918
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I'm guessing Cuba has some good hospitals, not just for its super-powerful, but also for the next rung of senior folk who run all parts of the country. Moore probably filmed those. I haven't seen his film so I'm not sure what parts of the US system he showed, but I guess it was not the 5-star facilities available in the upper middle-income US suburb.

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  • 5 years later...

The left-leaning Washington Post just published an article discussing whether Castro was good for Cuba, at least in some respects. Their basic conclusion is: not by a long shot. Given its closeness to U.S. and the money that used to flow in, pre-Communist Cuba was actually better off than many central/south American countries of the time. Today, it lags most of them. In many areas of the economy things are significantly worse than they used to be: regression rather than progress. So, the best-guess is that, left alone, to stay under a dictator, or to evolve into some mushy mixed-economy/socialist-leaning democracy, would have resulted in a far more prosperous Cuba today.

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12 hours ago, softwareNerd said:

The left-leaning Washington Post just published an article...

From the article:

But after the revolution, ties with the United States were cut and Washington imposed an embargo (though Cuba still traded with much of the rest of the world).

Too often this fact is ignored by the Left in an attempt to "blame" the U.S. for Cuba's poverty.  Cuba still trades with much of the world, including Canada, so the U.S. Embargo's impact on Cuba is a non-issue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The situation in Cuba is that the communism that they had faced it won't let them progress in some parts of the economy. In another hand, keeping Cuba as an independent country where people get equal rights and where people gain the same income had made them be prepared for everything that happens now after Fidel Castro. Cuba is a country rich in culture and with the globalization and the opportunities that they are next to face they will change in long term. We don't really know if it is for worst or if it is for best of Cuba, but I hope that maybe they get the chance of being more in touch with the world.  

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  • 2 months later...

I would say that Michael Moore's claims dismissing the evidence are highly dubious. This is a leaked cable from a foreign embassy in Cuba from an organization which has long track record of honest reporting. Claiming that this is some sort of evil plot by politicians to discredit the film makes no sense whatsoever.

Edited by Eamon Arasbard
Correction of inaccurate description of Moore's allegations
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