CUBAN HEALTHCARE: "AQUI NADA ES FACIL"

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

EO 12958 DECL: 01/25/2018

TAGS PGOV, PINR, PREL, ECON, AMED, SOCI, AMGT, CU

SUBJECT: CUBAN HEALTHCARE: "AQUI NADA ES FACIL"

(HERE NOTHING IS EASY)

REF: HAVANA 0076

Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d

WikiLeaks: Cuba banned Sicko for depicting 'mythical' healthcare system. Authorities feared footage of gleaming hospital in Michael Moore's. Oscar-nominated film would provoke a popular backlash. Photograph: Max Whittaker/Reuters(right)

Cuba banned Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko, because it painted such a "mythically" favourable picture of Cuba's healthcare system that the authorities feared it could lead to a "popular backlash", according to US diplomats in Havana.

The revelation, contained in a confidential US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks , is surprising, given that the film attempted to discredit the US healthcare system by highlighting what it claimed was the excellence of the Cuban system.

But the memo reveals that when the film was shown to a group of Cuban doctors, some became so "disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba that they left the room".

Castro's government apparently went on to ban the film because, the leaked cable claims, it "knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them."

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