Cuban Ambassador Hails Country's Achievements JAMAICA, January 13, 2009. Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica Gisela Garcia Rivera Thursday hailed the achievements of Cuba over 50 years despite economic constraints and continued blockade by the US on the Caribbean country. "Cuba today has the highest number of doctors per population anywhere in the world," Rivera told participants at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Cuban Revolution held in Kingston. "There is one doctor per every 169 persons and infant mortality at the end of December 2008 was 4.7 as compared to 60 at the time of the triumph of the revolution," she declared. Rivera said that the Cuban doctor/patient ratio was the highest in the Third World surpassing even first-world countries and added that life expectancy in Cuba is now 76 years for men and 80 years for women while health care was free for all its citizens. Rivera also lauded Cuba's accomplishments in education saying that the country had the highest number of teachers in the world. "Today illiteracy is almost non-existent at 0.2 per cent and we have one of the best teacher student ratios, one to 20 for primary schools and one to 15 for secondary schools," Rivera told the gathering. President Fidel Castro led Cuba from January 1959 after deposing Fulgencio Batista in a guerrilla insurgency known in history as the Cuban revolution. Castro stepped down from the office in February 2008. "The victory opened the way to implement a policy of social justice with the due respect to human dignity for every Cuban citizen," she added. According to Rivera, while Cuba struggled to advance and consolidate its achievements internally, the country was also able to contribute to other Third World nations. "Currently, cooperation is being offered in 96 countries through the activity of more than 45,000 [Cuban] civilian cooperants," Rivera declared. "In Jamaica there are more than 140 Cubans assisting in different programmes, including the eye-care programme," she said, adding that there were over 350 Jamaican students currently studying in Cuba. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of foreign affairs Kenneth Baugh represented Prime Minister Bruce Golding at the function while in attendance were also Leader of the Opposition Portia Simpson Miller and former Prime Minister PJ Patterson. (Cubaminrex – Embacuba Jamaica)
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