On Tuesday Fox News Latino published a report on how Cuba’s aging population should inflame the already ravaging economic fires of the Communist island nation:
“So few children, so many elderly. It’s a central dilemma for a nation whose population is the oldest in Latin America, and getting older.
The labor force soon will be shrinking as health costs soar, just when President Raúl Castro’s government is struggling to implement reforms that aim to resuscitate an economy long on life support.”
As the article explains, Cuba has been able to do what few Latin American countries have: it’s raised its life expectancy “from 69 years during the 1960s to 78 today,” and its aging population is attributed to the fact that more Cuban women are graduating from university and having less children as a result. For any other Western country, such statistics would be a welcome sign of success, but not for a developing country that cannot afford to have such a large section of its society out of work and collecting government benefits.
“Cuba’s National Office of Statistics says about 2 million of the island’s 11 million inhabitants, or 17 percent, were over 60 years old last year. That’s already high compared to Latin America as a whole, where the rate is somewhere north of 9 percent, extrapolating from U.N. figures from 2000.”
But the Castro regime, despite its many sins, is still true to its socialistic principles and is not abandoning its elderly:
“In recent years Cuba has implemented a number of measures for the aging, including an expanded denture distribution program and establishing ‘grandparents’ circles’ of elderly citizens who get together for activities and help each other out when the relatives they live with are at work …. Cuba recently allowed retirees to return to work and still collect their pensions.”
On Monday, just a day before the report on Cuba’s aging population crisis appeared, Fox News Latino also reported that Cuba’s second oil well attempt of the year failed to find any oil off the Cuban coast. The government had hoped that a successful rig might pump out enough Texas tea to give the Cuban economy a much needed boost.
So it appears that after 50 years, “el bloqueo” may finally achieve its goal and see the Castro regime starved into submission. The dream of a socialist Cuba will be dashed like waves against the Malecon, and Cuba will become like the rest of Latin America: sick, violent, and securely under the heel of Lady Liberty.
“Viva Cuba Libre,” indeed.
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An article praising and lamenting the inevitable demise of a murderous regime on the same day Being Latino runs yet another article demonizing Republican Latinos?
Has Being Latino been hijacked by college freshmen?
SMH…
i really hate how fox news always spreads propaganda….
“So it appears that after 50 years, “el bloqueo” may finally achieve its goal and see the Castro regime starved into submission. The dream of a socialist Cuba will be dashed like waves against the Malecon, and Cuba will become like the rest of Latin America: sick, violent, and securely under the heel of Lady Liberty.” that statement is so short sided
ouch! such a depressing ‘opinion’ piece and written with such absolute certainty that one would think it was more than just the author’s ‘opinion’ … Seeing as cuba has done what no other country has ever done and done it when everyone and their capitalist mothers said it was impossible I think they’ll find a way and be alright.. I’d be more concerned with the U.S.’ self destructive narrative that continues to use a beer mug to empty water from a hole filled sinking ship.. In my humble opinion I think the U.S. is in a far harder spot than U.S. Corporate media leads on..
yea ben turning a first world country into a third world country is a real accomplishment
being latino being leftist again.
Talik about spindoctoring. Cuba has the oldest people in Latin American, because it has the most repressive regime in the region, a tyrannical government that has zapped all hope from most of the people. Under those condtions, the desire to have children is diminished. Also, any young person who can leave, departs.
First of all even before the Revolution and “socialism”, Cuba had the so called advances the Castro dictatorship always takes credit for.
And another thing, never believe any news or statistics that comes out of the Cuban dictatorship. They are fake, the same way the news and statistics coming from the old Soviet Union were fake and exaggerate.
It is evident that the petit socialists at BL are upset that Cuban “socialism” hasn’t worked out so well.
And who at BL writes these propaganda pieces? You all stopped putting your writers names as of recent.
El bloqueo did not starve anyone. All of the food in Cuba comes from the U.S. Food is the great loophole in the bloqueo.
I attended a conference on the economic future of Cuba in April. Simply stated if Chavez dies Cuba is screwed.
According to their own reports 2 to 3 out of five Cubans lives in poverty. This is particularly bad because of the way they define poverty. Basically if you live in el campo you can not be poor because you can plant food. If you have any grassy area in the urban areas you can not be poor because you can plant there. If any member of your immediate family has access to a government cafeteria you can not be poor because they can eat at work and thus there should be some food left for you
But the biggest problem is that no one person in the ruling portion of government is less than eighty years old. There is no go forward plan.