Yet another indictment of capitalism
- From: bromselick@xxxxxxx
- Date: 26 Oct 2005 20:42:27 -0700
By Deirdre Griswold --
Published Oct 26, 2005 10:04 PM --
Once again, the great contrast in how authorities responded to a
natural disaster has illuminated the social and class differences
between the United States and Cuba.
Hurricane Wilma hit Cuba twice. First, as it moved northwest through
the Caribbean, it dumped an unprecedented amount of rain on Cuba's
western provinces. Then, after it hit Cancun in Mexico and swung toward
Florida, it slammed the island's north shore with more rain and high
winds that drove huge waves into the capital city of Havana.
The recorded annual rainfall in Pinar del Rio, a fairly dry western
province, has never gone above 57 inches before. With Wilma and earlier
storms, the province's total rainfall for this year is already at 70
inches.
Huge waves kicked up by Wilma breached Havana's seawall and flooded
the city up to four blocks from the waterfront. Residents said the
flooding, which in places was three feet deep and inundated basement
apartments, was even worse than the 1993 hurricane that was dubbed
"the storm of the century." The salt Wilma's waves left behind is
expected to cause more damage to Havana's buildings.
Despite all this, not one Cuban life was lost to the storm.
For the first time, the Associated Press put out an unbiased article on
the effectiveness of Cuba's emergency preparedness system, which has
been recognized by the United Nations and many other countries as
probably the best in the world.
Entitled "Wilma Floods Havana but Kills None," the AP report from
the Cuban capital appeared on Oct. 26 in the New York Times and several
other U.S. newspapers.
Why no Cubans died
"Part of the country's good fortune," says the article, "could
be because Wilma never made landfall here, but many also credit the
fact people in Fidel Castro's Cuba are instructed from an early age
how to move quickly during a natural disaster.
"The United Nations and other international organizations have long
praised Cuba's track record in preserving lives during hurricanes
that regularly batter the island. When a tropical storm starts brewing
in the Caribbean, a well-oiled hurricane-response machine clicks on in
Cuba."
The article describes how everyone on the island is kept informed when
a storm nears. "Jose Rubiera, head of Cuba's National Meteorology
Institute, starts making television appearances, contributing to his
near-celebrity status on the island. If asked on the street, most
Cubans can recite the storm's latest coordinates and projected
route."
If the storm looks like it is going to hit Cuba, the whole country
mobilizes for the evacuation phase.
"In the days before Wilma passed Cuba, about 700,000 people were
evacuated in this country of about 11.2 million.
"All the state's resources are mobilized, focused on the same goal:
to ensure that no one dies.
"Vehicles are rounded up to provide transport for people in danger
areas, and schools and other government buildings are converted into
temporary shelters.
"Citizens serving on civil defense committees-organized by
community, by neighborhood, even by block-also go into high gear,
ensuring that each shelter is properly stocked with food, water,
blankets and other supplies. ...
"By the time the storm hits, the streets are empty, with residents
tucked away in locations believed to be safe from whipping winds and
drenching rains."
Most of those evacuated-80 percent, according to officials-were
taken into their homes by other Cubans.
The AP account continued: "'Everyone helps each other here,'
Dayami Gonzalez said Tuesday while cleaning up her Havana home after
floodwaters that had reached more than 3 feet inside began receding.
'In the United States it seems like there's more egoism, where
everyone just worries about themselves.'
"Giraldo Garcia, 64 and retired, blamed the U.S. government for the
more than 1,000 Katrina-related deaths in New Orleans and the rest of
the Gulf Coast.
"'It's like those in power don't think about anything but
war,' Garcia said. 'It was so painful to see innocent people whose
lives could have been saved.' Garcia praised his own country's
system. ... 'If there's any risk to human lives, I know that the
government won't leave us to lady luck.'"
Not mentioned in this article is that the Cubans also don't have to
worry about what will happen to their jobs, or how they will get health
care if needed. In socialist Cuba, economic security, education and
health are guaranteed rights of all the people.
It seems to have taken the terrible disaster on the Gulf Coast-where
racism, poverty and the protect-property-first attitude of the
authorities led to such horrific levels of death and suffering-to force
such a truthful article about Cuba into the U.S. press.
Florida: curfews, no water
News about what is happening in Florida since Wilma struck that very
rich state is just now starting to come out. At least six people are
dead. Three million are still without power, "including about 93
percent of customers in Broward and Miami-Dade counties." (New York
Times, Oct. 26) Miami-Dade County is predominantly Latin@ and Black.
People are lined up in their cars for blocks expecting government
deliveries of water and ice that don't come. They are being told to
boil their tap water, but have no electricity to do so.
Dawn-to-dusk curfews are in place throughout the region. Who will be
stopped by the police? Wealthy whites, or poor African Americans and
Haitians?
By contrast, across the state in Naples, "one of the wealthiest
cities in the country" near where the hurricane first made landfall,
"ice and water distribution appeared to be going more smoothly." By
Tuesday, Oct. 25, most of the streets there had already been cleared of
fallen trees and debris.
The hurricane also killed people in Mexico, Haiti and Jamaica, where it
did great damage. Most media coverage, however, has focused on the
problems faced by tourists in Cancun.
.
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