Cuban Engineers make very little and Cuban Doctors are extorted by their government according to my step dad.
This happened a few years ago so I, unfortunately, cannot remember all the details of the conversation. But even so it still bothers the hell out of me to this day.
Cuba was obviously the topic of discussion and I was raving about how their doctors are the best in the world, my step dad then mentioned that when they are sent overseas they must return home, they cannot just leave Cuba at all (perhaps for vacation but other than that they apparently have to remain in Cuba forever). I was unbothered by this, because honestly I wasn’t fully convinced, and said “thats fine.” He laughed in disbelief because what he just described was “extortion.” The Cuban government is extorting their doctors.
At some point my mom and step dad were talking about their vacation to Cuba and how their cab driver was apparently an engineer but had to work this side job to make more money. I guess being a cab driver is more lucrative? I do not remember why he was telling me this, maybe it was a way to criticize the Cuban economic system? Regardless, this discussion has bothered the hell out of me ever since it happened, and although I cannot remember some of the specifics the main parts still eat at me to this day.
So, is anything that he told me true? I have a hard time looking this information up as all the sources I get are from the West and very anti-Cuba in general so they’re unhelpful. Thanks for any information you can provide!
Edit: grammar/spelling mistakes.
Well here's a definition I can find on extortion:
I'm not sure I can even envision how exactly Cuba would go about taking money from its overseas doctors through threats. (Which is the only related scenario I can think of that would fit the definition.) Cuba is not exactly an empire who can make shit happen at will with military force outside its borders. It's under siege by the empire as we speak.
Like what would they do? End the program and make the doctors come home if they aren't doing what they want or something? How are they going to enforce that?
It sounds a lot like an example of psychological projection. The empire acts in extorting, forceful ways across borders. So people who pick up on this might project this trait onto other countries that they think are being led by "bad leaders".
The possibility that people could be loyal to the revolution and want to work towards its success because it has supported them and works toward humane goals is completely off the table for that kind of worldview. Every sign of struggle means someone is a victim of communism and every sign of success must be propaganda.
"nonfalsifiable orthodoxy" as Parenti put it:
spoiler
“During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime's atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn't go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.” ― Michael Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism