It is regrettable that certain Swiss organizations do not even mention Cuba’s solidarity work in the Corona crisis
The Covid-19 pandemic shows us the complete failure of neoliberal politics worldwide: the tragic situation in Italy, Spain, France and the USA – most affected today – is mainly due to the decades of austerity policies and cuts in public health care .
Added to this is the short-sightedness of the capitalist class, which prevents governments from taking the necessary measures. Privatized, profit-oriented medicine, as implemented by neoliberalism, simply cannot cope with such pandemics. There is a lack of basic equipment and materials such as masks, hospital beds, respirators and the necessary trained personnel to deal with dangerous viruses.
Socialist-oriented countries like China and Vietnam are coping much better with the crisis. Even after years of economic sanctions by the United States and its allies, Venezuela is also doing much more for its people than the neighboring countries Ecuador and Colombia, which are praised by the mainstream press – not to mention Brazil.
First and foremost is Cuba, which also suffers from long-term sanctions and blockades and not only copes with the situation in its own country with regard to the pandemic, but can also send indispensable medical aid abroad.
It is well known that Cuba has been a beacon of south-south cooperation for decades: Cuban doctors are present in many countries in Latin America and in Africa, where they played a key role in controlling the Ebola virus.
What is new, however, is that Cuba is helping Western European countries like Italy or France. The work done by Cuban staff in the Italian region of Lombardy is remarkable and must be recognized. By helping to fight the pandemic in Italy, Cuba is also helping to prevent the virus from spreading to neighboring countries such as Switzerland.
It is all the more regrettable that certain Swiss organizations do not even mention the Cuban solidarity work in the current crisis that we are all facing.
For Alliance Sud, the political platform of the most important Swiss development agencies (Caritas CH, Fastenopfer, HEKS, Bread for All, SwissAid and Helvetas), Cuba does not seem to exist. In the recent Alliance Sud newsletter, an article entitled “A global crisis needs global solidarity” does not mention Cuba’s solidarity work.
Swiss banks still fully support the US’s economic sanctions against Cuba. As a result, no major Swiss bank enables financial transactions with Cuba.
Small Swiss organizations have petitioned the government to end sanctions against Cuba without success. In the newsletter mentioned, Alliance Sud made four public demands on the Swiss government, none of which included the end of the sanctions by Swiss banks against Cuba.
To put it bluntly: while Cuba takes risks, sends medical professionals and helps save lives in Italy and thus in the neighboring Swiss canton of Ticino, the Swiss banks punish Cuba. Cuba obviously does not deserve solidarity for Alliance Sud.
There is a reason for this double standard: neoliberalism has long been practiced by the Swiss government – as well as by the European Union.
In the neoliberal ideology, the private sector and ultimately the market have the actual power to decide on the distribution of the wealth produced by society. For Cuba, on the other hand, people have this decision-making power and people come before the market.
It is the excellence of the Cuban public-funded and state-supported doctors and trained staff who help Italy, France, Brazil and other countries fight the pandemic. The fact that Cuba makes clear the failure of the private sector – and hence the market and neoliberal ideology – to deal with the corona virus is a fact that apparently should be hidden from public awareness at all costs.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Deza), the main financier of most large Swiss non-governmental organizations and development agencies, has long since internalized the ideology of the superiority of the private sector in promoting social development and the social order.
In her magazine “Eine Welt” from December 2015, the title contribution was “Private sector: engine of development”. The article praises the performance of the private sector and I was unable to find a Deza article comparing the fundamental importance of the public sector.
Parallel to the defense of private entrepreneurship and the idea of the market as a key element in the organization and development of society, the achievements of the socialist-oriented countries are being attacked.
Another “One World” article by Swiss journalist Sandro Benini in March 2014, for example, praised Colombia’s efforts to combat poverty compared to Venezuela the Venezuelan economic disaster. The refugees before the Honduran economic catastrophe do not seem to deserve the same attention of the Deza, nor the economic catastrophe brought to Argentina by the neoliberal government of Mauricio Macri, which Sandro Benini praised so much in other articles, just a few examples to call.
Then, in 2019, came the reaction to the neoliberal catastrophe: the explosion of unprecedented public rallies in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador (but surprisingly not in Venezuela) against the respective governments of these countries. It seems that people in Colombia, Chile and Ecuador disagree with Deza’s vision.
The Venezuelan achievements in housing and education have not been praised by “One World” and I doubt that Deza will ever mention how Cuba and Venezuela do much better than the “flagship” of Colombia or Ecuador with the coronavirus pandemic bypass.
From the perspective of Deza, the Swiss banks and Alliance Sud, neoliberalism, the market and the private sector are obviously providing the appropriate answers to the COVID-19 pandemic, not Cuba, regardless of the concrete evidence.
For its new strategy 2021-2024, Deza wants to get even more involved in public-private partnerships with the private sector in development aid, thereby reaffirming the neoliberal ideology.
However, given the neoliberal failure, which is well documented by the COVID 19 pandemic, we should expect an in-depth discussion of the role of the public sector in the development of a society.
The Deza, Alliance Sud, major Swiss banks and others will do everything possible to prevent such a discussion, as the denial of the role of Cuba in the fight against pandemic already shows.
I can only hope that those in Switzerland who are grateful to Cuba and who recognize the fundamental importance of a profound change in the organization of our economy and society will raise their voices and ask important questions to Swiss organizations.
source: Amerika21.de
