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A fresh look at Cuban trade
- wuschel 11y agoI found it rather surprising to see Cuba being a "major exporter of medical products" and a "leader in biotechnology". I can understand the medical tech - it makes sense given the level of cuban medical education. But biotech? What kind of biotech? Could anyone comment on that? An article I found [1] mentions some serious products, but what about the regulations? [1] https://t.co/yElsLVfZdt https://t.co/yElsLVfZdt
- baakss 11y agoI can't comment except for my own experience. We visit relatives in Cuba occasionally. When we go, we always had to come up with some excuse to bring medical supplies and leave them there. On one occasion, my mom pretended to be crippled for the trip down so that we could justify bringing a wheelchair. Then she just left it. Same thing would apply across the board for anything you could think of. We'd get a doctor's note, bring along medicines 'for ourselves' then leave them with family there. The situation is pretty bad there. It's almost like the economy doesn't exist. You can be an architect, for example, but there's really no new buildings going up. You get a coupon book every year good for things like a pair of shoes, but no shoes are being made. People rely heavily on goods and money from Miami. Money can at least buy them non-American imported goods. A friend's family even brought a window down with them once somehow. Anyway, I don't know everything about it, just anecdotally what we've seen when we made our trips down, plus the stories from cousins who have made it over recently.
- caente 11y agoI can confirm your experience, with mine, every time we go there we need to ask in advance what medicines our family and friends need. We have never had to fake a disease though, over the counter medicines are rare enough...
- wuschel 11y agoThanks for your feedback. That does remind me my time in the eastern block. Just a bit harsher. This might very well be a distribution problem e.g. some sectors being prioritized, and the people being left to their own fate.
- ChrisArgyle 11y agoMy mother expatriated Cuba when she was in her 20s and this is exactly her experience. Basically, if you're not important to The Party you're on your own.
- Synaesthesia 11y agoLets just remember the reason for all of this. The unilateral blockade maintained by the USA
- Synaesthesia 11y agoThey have had an official government commitment to supporting biotech research for years and have built up a local biotech industry. Despite the embargo, they are doing a lot of advanced research in the areas of disease management, genetics, cancer and other biotech fields.
- wuschel 11y agoVery interesting. Do you have any source regarding their endeavours, or did you perhaps have any dealing with them? What is the state of their biotech scene?
- alexcabrera 11y agoThere is no biotech scene, there is simply what the Cuban government allows its scientists to study. There are no private biotech companies competing with each other and no market to serve.
- Synaesthesia 11y agoJust read about occasional discoveries and breakthroughs on the news. I read that Cuba is developing a promising anti-cancer vaccine or something like that a while ago.
- trynumber9 11y agoWhat on earth are "organ extracts"?