THE TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH IN CUBA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300180008-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 15, 2005
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: September 11, 1968
• Content Type: OPEN

Approved For Release 2005/12/14: CIA-RDP70B00338R000300180008-8
September 11, 1968 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE
tion here; yet, as many of them told me, the
human rewards-though often intangible-
are worth all their efforts and sacrifices. The
essential element in this equation is the
nature of the individual volunteer.
He (or she) must be a mature, practical,
sensitive person, capable of great human in-
sight. He needs longer, more intensive train-
ing before entering this basically "foreign"
nation, training in the language and the cul-
ture of the people he seeks to motivate and
to help. He must have special skills and ex-
perience to offer toward the creation of a
labor pool that will attract industry and
create jobs-for the Indians want passion-
ately to be done with handouts and paternal-
ism and to become self-supporting.
Only with such people as these can the
VISTA program on the Navajo reservation
really fulfill its great promise.
THE TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC
- HEALTH IN CUBA-
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, the Wash-
ington Sunday Star of September 8, 1968,
published the first of a series of arti-
cles entitled "Castro's Cuba Today,"
written by Merwin K. Sigale. This first
article, while critical of the Castro dicta-
torship, nevertheless repeated the time-
worn myth that the regime has brought
certain conrete benefits to the masses
of the Cuban people.
The Castro revolution-
It said-
has elevated the dispossessed while dispos-
sessing the elevated . . . it has scored im-
pressive gains in education, public health
and social equality while canceling the rights
of free speech, suffrage and political action.
It may be true that the Castro regime
has dispossessed the elevated. In the
course of doing so, although the article
does not point this out, it also dispos-
sessed the hundreds, of thousands of
small peasants who once owned their
own land and small artisans who once
had their own businesses.
It is completely untrue, on the other
hand, that the Castro regime has "ele-
vated the dispossessed," or that it has
"scored impressive gains in education,
public health and social equality."
The fact is that in every country where
it has taken power the totalitarian Com-
munist system has impoverished the
masses of the people and further aggra-
vated the condition of the dispossessed.
By a coincidence, on the day that the
article to which I have referred appeared
in the Washington Star, the U.S. Citi-
zens Committee for a Free Cuba released
a study entitled "Medical Conditions and
Public Health in Cuba Today."
Based largely on Cuban Government
sources, international medical journals,
and interviews with some hundreds of
exiled medical personnel, the study says
that infant mortality has increased six-
fold over the past 7 years and that pub-
lic health in every other area has de-
teriorated at an equally catastrophic
The study blames the deterioration in
public health on "the debasement of civil
authority," the swollen military budg-
et-which takes $256 million a year
against a top figure of $55 million be-
fore Castro came to power-and the to-
tal lack of concern over public health
services.
The report quotes from the testimony
of recent refugees who have worked in
the fields of medicine and dentistry.
Let me quote here only a few para-
graphs from the testimony of Jose An-
tonio Guethon Lahera, a male nurse who,
until March 1968, was in charge of the
laboratory in the Santiago de Cuba Gen-
eral Hospital in Oriente Province: -
"Out of every 100 tests made for hepatitis,"
said Sr. Guethon, "30 per cent were positive
in 1966; in 1967, 33 per cent were positive;
between January and March of 1968 40 per
cent were positive. This is due to poor or non-
existent hygiene in homes, overcrowding
everywhere and the absence of medicines to
treat the disease in its early stages.
"Hospitals are so over-crowded that, ex-
cept in the most severe cases, the diagnosed
patient Is returned to his home, thus. spread-,
lag the disease to other members of his fam-
ily. The blood bank also spreads infections.
"In 1967, 20 out of every 100 persons tested
had piodermitis. By 1968, this had increased
to 70 per cent, while 50 percent of those
tested were suffering from kidney disorders."
Such are the "impressive gains" that
the Castro regime has scored in the field
of public health.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the full text of the study on
public health in Cuba, prepared by the
U.S.. Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba,
be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the study was
ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as
follows:
MEDICAL CONDITIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN
CUBA TODAY
(A study prepared by the U.S. Citizens
Committee for a Free Cuba)
There can be little doubt that the Cuban
people have fallen victim to the political am-
bitions of Fidel Castro and the onward
thrust of Communism In the Western Hemi-
sphere. This fact is dramatized in the state
of public health in Cuba.
The debasement of civil authority and the
ascendancy of military power took formal
form with Decree 988 of January 5, 1962.
This decree sets aside a yearly military
budget of $247 million. By 1964, Cuba's mili-
tary expenditures had gone even .higher-
$256 million-and indications are that since
that time, with the Installation of 43 guer-
rilla training camps on the island, this figure
has been revised upward.
Decree 988 also established a "central
military reserve for non-budgeted expendi-
tures" and some intelligence estimates place
those expenditures in excess of $1 billion
since 1962. These military outlays contrast
with pre-Castro annual military budgets of
$55 million, which included Cuba's contri-
bution to inter-American defense. Castro's
army is estimated at 75,000 men, with an-
other 300,000-plus in the militia and an ad-
ditional 800,000 forced to serve in the Com-
mittees for the l)efense of the Revolution,
actually nefarious packs of neighborhood in-
formers. None are productive members of the
community.
So great has been the military drain on
the civilian economy that less than one-
quarter of the housing units needed, just to
S 10581
ence works dispute that claim. Cuba had-90
public hospitals with 21,000 beds in 1958, the
year before Castro came to power. Further-
more, another 168 cooperative hospitals and
clinics dotted the island where, for a monthly
fee, of between $4 and $5, Cuban families
received full hospitalization, all costs of sur-
gery and medicines and in- and out-patient
.treatment.
Altogether, the number of hospital beds
in Cuba in 1958 totalled 49,000 which is to
say 9,000 more than Castro claimed in 1967.
A typical Castro practice is to "inaugurate"
hospitals (Topes de Collantes,'the National
Hospital, for example) that had either been
built, or nearly built, when he came to power.
The Cuban dictator is no slouch when it
comes to juggling the figures, though he Is
not particularly gifted at )he vice. He claimed
in the same speech that infant mortality
before he came to power "was over 60 per live
1,000 births and at present it has dropped to
37." But the facts are rather otherwise. The
Statistical Abstract of 1960 places Cuba at
the top of the list for all of Latin America,
with a rate of only 5.8 deaths per live 1,000
births. What Castro has done, then, is to
demonstrate that Cuba today leads all Latin
America in infant deaths.
The failure of the public health system is
best demonstrated by epidemics that rage
throughout the island. Of the epidemics re-
ported, gastroenteritis provides the best index
to the state of public sanitation. It is rela-
tively easy to control by elementary sanitary
measures and comparatively simple to treat
with medicines, and for that reason was vir-
tually unknown in Cuba before Castro came
to power. In a November 1963 article in the
Communist newspaper Hoy, editorialist Man-
uel Navarro Luna reported: "Between May
and June, there were 528,460 cases of gas-
troenteritis reported in the hygiene centers
in the rural zones of Cuba."
In August, 1964, the Ministry of Justice
announced that it had listed in official regis-
ters a "total of 6,429 deaths for the first
6 months of this year in Havana, of Which
1,073 were children." This means a death rate
of 16.6% In Havana alone (the figure would
be much greater nationally) as against 6%
for countries with adequate public health
facilities. On June 18, 1966, the Public Health
Ministry announced that "212 children died
of gastroenteritis in the last 14 days," with
Minister of Health Jose Machado Ventura
elaborating over CMQ radio on November 27
the same year that the rate of death's among
children due to gastroenteritis mounted to
well over 1,200 in Havana Province.
Ever since Castro took over in 1959, dis-
eases which were virtually nonexistent in
Cuba have returned in epidemic propor-
tions-dysentery, typhoid fever, diphtheria,
brucellosis and malaria. Anemia IS common.
These have been dramatic increases in the
number of new cases of smallpox, scarlet
fever and venereal diseases. The regime also
has issued public statements concerning its
"struggle" to contain yellow fever, unknown
in Cuba since the early 1900's.
Jose Antonio Guethon Lahera, was until
March 1968, a male nurse at the Santiago de
Cuba General Hospital in Oriente Province,
supervising the laboratory.
"Out of every 100 tests made for hepatitis,"
said Sr. Guethon, "30 per cent were positive
in 1966; in 1967, 33 per cent were positive;
between January and March of 1968, 40 per
cent were positive. This is due to poor or
keep abreast of Cuba's growing population, nonexistent hygiene in homes, overcrowding
have been constructed. Cement, lumber and everywhere and the absence of medicines to
other prime materials which ordinarily treat the disease in its early stages.
would go into housing, hospitals, sewage "Hospitals are so over-crowded that, except
systems and water supply have been diverted In the most severe cases, the diagnosed pa-
to military construction throughout the is- tient is returned to his home, thus spreading
land. the disease to other members of his family.
Yet, on January 2, 1967, the Cuban Prime The blood bank also spreads infections.
Minister told the nation that the number "In 1967, 20 out of every 100 persons tested
of hospital.beds have been "increased from had piodermitis. By 1968, this had increased
20,000 to more than 40,000 during these years to 70 per cent, while 50 per cent of those
of the revolution," But international refer- tested were suffering from kidney disorders."
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 S 10582
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE September? 11, 1968
Juan Yanes Navarro worked at- the Medi- gowns daily, and the patients are never
cal Cooperative of Havana, escaping from washed daily while bed sheets are changed
Cuba in 1968, and testified as follows: "The once every week or two.
number of patients admitted to this hospital "Thera was an average of 50 deliveries of
were suffering from various degrees of babies daily from 1947 to 1982, including
anemia due to lack of food. By 1987, the caesareans. In 1982, the number of deliveries
number suffering from anemia rose to 90% decreased to about 30 per day, and abortions
of all those admitted. The majority had be- Increased. In 1967, there was an average of 400
tween 3 and 3V2 million red corpuscles, and abortions per month, mostly of young unwed
hemoglobin of between 8 and 9 grams. But mothers who were sent, unsupervised
out to
,
medicines containing iron were not available. cut sugar cane along with militia units. The' into exile. Noce of the flights was occasioned
In emergencies we gave 500 grams of whole age of these young women runs between 11 by repugnance of physictars for Cuba's so-
blood." and 20 years; the death rate among them clalized medicine. for, prior to Castro, Cuba
The Cuban regime has sought to explain from abortions was 6% in 1968." had F large degree of socialization through-
away the deterioration In public health sere- Mental disorders in Cuba have increased out its various fields of professional treat-
tees, saying that the water problem today. le by 75% since 1962. Psychiatrist Dr. Lisandro ment. The point is that 46% of all licensed
the "heritage of the capitalistic past." But Diaz Torres, recently escaped from Cuba, ex- Cuban physicians have fled Cuba. because
the fact is that it is under the present Com- plains this phenomenon: "The uncertainties political reliatility takes precedenc3 over his
munist regime (and not before) that critical Of daily life, hiving to scrounge for food competence In the medical field.
water shortages, pollution and resultant epi- and clothing, tensions at home, and, for the This situation continues. Dr. Gustavo
demics have occurred. child. In school, is responsible for the usually Mesta. Pujol, named by Castro to organize
Cuban engineers who built the present high number of mental problems now found the medical profession in Cuba along Com-
Havana water system trace present water In the Cuban population. The Cuban pay- munist lines, said in a recent interview after
pollution to these causes: lack of equipment ehfatrist added: Treatment In Cuba of the escaping from Cuba in a small boat that the
and competent personnel to run It; failure mentally 111 is made virtually impossible be- Ministry of Public Health h;td received-and
to maintain reservoirs, water mains and cause 1) of the poor quality of drugs and the dented-more than 2,000 applications from
sewage systems; lack of fuel to operate the total absence of tranquillizers, and: 2) the physicians to leave the country. Another 500
water pumps; lack of water pumps them- necessity of returning the patient to the en- physicians have been retired at their own
selves; and the complete absence of chlori- vironment of violence, terror and uncertainty request, he said, because they did not want
nation. Prior to Castro, only selected water that produced the mental problem in the to work for the Communist state. They were
sources were tapped and the water was sys- first place." labelled "enemies of the state," their ration
tematically checked for purity, filtered and The testimony of Maria Fabregas Gutierrez cards taken away and must live, literally, a
chlorinated. What Cuban doctors In exile Is pertinent. She worked as a laboratory tech- hand-to-mouth existence on food given to
call "astronomical morbidity" in Cuba is ag- nician of the Psychiatric hospital, Rancho them by friends and relatives.
gravated by an almost complete lack of Boyeros Avenue and 26th St., El Cerro, Ha- Of 45 full-time faculty members on the
hygiene in cafes, shops and restaurants. Fire vana from 1966 until May 1, 1968. "By mid- staff of the School of Dentistry at Havana
hydrants have been opened up and spew June of 1967," said Miss Fabregas, "our medi- University ten years ago, only twc remain.
contaminated water into unsanitary buckets cal staff had been reduced from 187 doctors Forty are in exile, two are political prisoners
In the hands of unsanitary Cubans who do and psybhiatrists to 39" of the regime and one is dead. T:aey have
not have soap to cleanse themselves or their She continues, "Tice five electro-shock been substituted by students, second-,rate
utensils. The ration Is one small bar of toilet unite were in such poor condition that only professors from the Soviet-bloc, and general
soap and orfe of washing soap per person per three were working at any given time, de- practitioners with no graduate training at
month. Ingredients In Cuban-manufactured spite the fact that an average of 500 patients all. There are now approximately 83f dentists
soap causes skin irritation and mothers often were admitted weekly for mental disorders. as compared to a pre-Castro regist:'ation of
use home remedies to wash their babies The patients became so numerous that we 1,980. -
rather than risk almost certain infection had to refer them to one of the first aid eta- Not only professional dentists end doc-
through the use of soap.- After using fresh tions. The X-ray machine was Inoperable. tors have left Cuba. Thousands o' nurses,
lemons the rind and pulp are often used to "Most of the patients were young women laboratory technicians, hospital aides and
cleanse infants and adults. between 15 and 30 years of age who broke administrators also have escaped from Cas-
Another form of epidemic is expressed In dowry under the terror and constant harrass- tro's Communist paradise. Today, their re-
the sky-high pre-natal mortality rates. This meat under which they lived. Many were placements, Cuban doctors trained under
information, gathered from a number of unwed and pregnant, having no defense the Castro regime, have the competence of
gynecologists who have fled Cuba. states that against the demands of the militia who may nurses.' aides. Recent and current medical
there are no drugs available to treat preg- take anyone they want and go unpunished." and dental graduates cannc?t be Considered
nancy anemias and many mothers do not Havana's mental hospital at Mazorra has doctors or dentists by any accepted standard.
retain the fetus. This accounts for the ex- deteriorated spectacularly since Castro came First of all, the government selects those
traordinary increase in still-horns through- to power. How it happened is told by Jose- who may enter medical and dental schools,
out the island. Special wards have been ilna Hernandez de Is Rosa de Bello, an em- and the selections are made more on the
established in some hospitals to take care of pioyee of the hospital for 10 years until she basis of Party loyalty than on aptitude and
the large number of premature births. How- escaped from Cuba in 1968, intelligence. Then, after three or fcur years
ever, not much can be accomplished because ?Bedding is scarce: the hospital is jammed of crash courses, "graduates" are shipped off
of the lack of hospital space, scarcity of in- with mentally deranged people. On holidays to practice medicine for the state i:2 one or
cubators and oxygen tanks, In pre-Castro they are fed only once a day. On other days, another medical center where they are ex-
Cuba, the weight of new-born babies aver- the food is scant and fights break out among pected to learn more of their profession. The
aged 6!/2 pounds. Today, the weight is less the patients. Relatives are seldom permitted curriculum is obsolete; there are few tools
than 5 pounds. The primary factors respon- to visit, probably out of fear by the regime for their work. What the medical courses
sible for the reduced weight of Cuban babies that the horrible conditions prevailing will amount to, their, Is a sort of on-the-job train-
Is lack of appropriate food for the mothers, cause a public revulsion and reaction. Ing without professional supervision, turn-
lack of medicines and vitamins, and the "More than 5.000 patients are crowded into Ing out "new doctors" whose poor patients
nervous tension of both sexes caused by the space meant for less than half that number, pay tLc prlce-often with their lives.
daily climate of fear under which people live. Fifty per cent or the women patirange ents Constantino Cardenas More was a
Here is the testimony of medical aide from 15 be 23 years of age, many nof many of them m dentis in Cuba. He arrived in Miami on a
"freedom flight" In Jul
Fernando Fernandez-Lands: "i worked for pregnant and virtually all of them unwed y, 1968. Here is what
20 years at the maternity hospital, located when they are admitted. he has to say a lout dental conditiors in the
at 31st and 94th Avenue, Marianao, Havana. "Violent patients are kept nude in cells Pollclinicos in Pinar del Rio Province: "On
Up until 1962 there were 134 doctors on the 10 by 12 feet, four_or five to each cell. The Mondays through Fridays only fillings and
staff; by 1965, there were 97; In 1968, when walls are not padded; they sleep on the floor extractions were performed. On Saturdays,
I left, there were only 84. Only four of these without bedding; they look like wild, caged, minor surgery was permitted. A 'quota' was
were doctors in any real sense of the word, animals. There are no medicines or other ordered by which each dentist had to treat
the others having been trained by the Com- equipment to treat them." three patients each hour, yet each patient
munist regime. had Sr. average of six cavities to be cleaned
The Incidence of epidemics, mental dis- and filled. The 'quota' for extractions was
"Ether is non-existent and patients are orders and the like has prompted the Castro eight patients an hour. As a result, many
given spinals. The chemicals which are im- regime to stop Issuing statistics in recent teeth were lost, and virtually no dental
ported from Red China are so bad that post- years. However, the constant stream of exiles, records kept. No dentist or technician re-
operative effects often last for a year or spot news on the Cuban radio and other ceived a vacation for over three years, and
longer. Sanitary conditions at the hospital sources provide a ready index to the state of the work day was 12 hours.
are terrible, due to the lack of water, dis- public health in that unfortunate island.'The "Dental tools from East Germany are so
Infectants and even personnel to do the situation will become worse, rather than poor that they are inoperative within one
cleaning, because they axe carted off by the better, since the Cuban military budget has year of being installed.
regime to cut sugar cane. Neither the risen and Fidel Castro has stated that all "The poor state of Cuban teeth today
patients nor the medical staff change their efforts to alleviate poor health conditions definitely is because of the lack of a good
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must await a "more favorable world climate,"
whatever he may mean by that phrase. He
has publicly admitted that the housing
shortage "cannot besolved until 1990."
LACK OF TRAINED P RSONNEL
A personal communication dated July 15,
19+88 from Dr. Angel Vieta, ex-Dean of the
School of Medicine at Havana University,
stateii that 2,800 Cuban.physicians have fled
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September 11, 1968 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE S10583
diet. Only children receive milk and this supplies, much of which was given to Cuba tergents and disinfectants with the resulting
consists of water, a small amount of pow- in 1962 and 1963 as ransom in the exchange spread of epidemics; the poor quality, and
dered milk and an even smaller amount of of Bay of Pigs prisoners for medicines, While lack, of pharmaceutical products;, and the
fresh milk. Even pregnant women are given the ship was being loaded, stevedores tore lack of adequate food, clothing and in many
no milk ration. The diet is so poor that many open some of the cartons and found medi- cases even the lack of rudimentary shelter.
Cubans drink water and sugar for energy cines so desperately needed for the Cuban The Cuban Communist regime has little
and this adds to the deterioration of the people, protested, and were taken away to difficulty obtaining what it wants from West-
teeth." one of Castro's 87 concentration camps. ern countries; the policy of "economic de-
Concepci6n Rodriguez Hernandez was em- Blood is extracted from prisoners who are Dial" being pursued by Washington has not
ployed at the Quinta de Dependientes Hos- about to be shot by firing squad. Here is been effective. But Castro lacks the dollars
pital in Havana. The children's ward con- the story, told by Celestino Roberto Vazquez to make extensive purchases, and those that
sisted of only 200 beds. Miss Rodriguez was Casines, who made the extractions. "Prison- are made do not alleviate the suffering of the
in charge of personnel who performed lab- era have blood extracted from them just Cuban people.
oratory tests for the patients. prior to being executed, and there have been Behind all of this stands the specter of
"In 1967," says Miss Rodriguez, "every cases where, because of the poor health of Castro-Communist ambition, the debasement
single child admitted to the hospital was the victim who has been in prison for years, of civil responsibility. Until the basic ill is
suffering from anemia. Their hemoglobin the extraction itself makes the execution cured, then medicines and food will continue
count varied from 5 to 8 grams, and their red unnecessary. He dies," to be a vital weapon in the hands of the.
corpuscle count ranged from 21/2 to 3 mil- Draftees into the Cuban military are, says regime. For example, tons of canned food are
lion. Seventy per cent of all children ad- Sr. Vazquez, made to "contribute 300 grams stored in various dumps around the island to
mitted ranging in age from a few months to of blood every three months. So are labor- supply Castroite guerrillas operating in Latin
five years, died." ers, who are rounded up periodically, placed America, for Castro's military forces, and the
Of the women admitted to maternity, Miss in trucks and sent to us for blood extractions. Communist elite. Milk is virtually unobtain-
Rodriguez said: "None of them had a higher Even the so-called Committee for the De- able in Cuba and more than one ration line
count than 21/2 million red corpuscles and a fens of the Revolution are made to canvas have erupted when. none turns up for sale.
hemoglobin of six or seven grams. Thirty per the block which is under their spying juris- In February 1968, seventy stevedores refused
cent of them suffered from post-delivery in- diction and order all adults under 50 years to load powdered milk, food and medicines
fections. Cesareans create 80 per cent post- of age to report and give 300 grams of blood." destined for North Vietnam, aboard a Soviet
operative infections. This is due in large What happens to the enormous quantity vessel.
measure to inexperienced 'doctors' who have of 121ood extracted from the Cubans also is This incident threatened to set off island-
no real training for their profession." told by Sr. Vazquez: "We usually only use wide disturbances, forcing Castro to an-
Prior to Castro and Communism in Cuba, blood from the blood bank when it is specifi- flounce nMarch 13, 1968, "a a revolutionary
medical courses were seven .years, equipment cally requested by a doctor and approved by offensive against parasites an cunter--
and curriculum were modern, and the medi- higher officials. This is because blood plasma lutionaries." Vilma Espin Castro, wife of
cal student was supervised by some of the is sent to North Vietnam in regular ship- Armed Forces Minister RafuCuban l a Women,
best doctors in the Western Hemisphere. ments." head ed with this ofh declaration:
One, Doctor Agustin Castellanos, is a world- The ACTH provided by the Russian Medex- "set t the of must tone the Federation with the arch 23 reclarati n:
famous heart specialist and today is with port laboratories was responsible for a num- We crush ter-."
d
Miami's National Children's Variety Hospital. ber of deaths in 1962 and 1963. An official When complaints sh that td milk, food
Another specialist, Doctor Luis Duany, is with resolution dated February 26, 1963 prohibited and faced Vietnam, she medicines with h answered: co answered: "If
ipp milk is for'
the same institution. The pre-Castro school its use. By June, 1964, Cuban physicians had Vieth Vietnam, then they can have all of
of Dentistry at Havana University was five become so alarmed by the deaths of their North
years' duration, followed, as in the medical patients that the Cuban Ministry of Health Little more need be added.
profession, with stiff examinations. Today, a issued an urgent order withdrawing 39
Castro "dentist" is graduated after two years' pharmaceutical products from drugstores SOURCES
training and can lay no claim to much more throughout the island. ' Of the 39, it was Granma, February 25, 1966; "Reto al Coln-
than the education of a dental technician in revealed that 36 had been supplied by Soviet unismo," by Doctor Enrique Huertas, Diario
other countries. One out of three "dentists" and Soviet-bloc sources and the other three las Americas, November 30, 1965; The Cuban
in Cuba today indeed are dental technicians by Red China. Senorita Nery Rodriguez was Report, January 17, 1964; "Un Medico Latin-
but practice as dentists. blinded and paralyzed from the waist down oamericano Ve la Medicina en Cuba," Salud
MEDICINES AND MATERIALS LACKING after taking a dose of Russian-manufactured Publica de Mexico, October, 1963; Radio
The high number of post-operative infec- polio vaccine at school in Cuba three years CMQ, September 9, 1963; Radio Progreso,
tions in Cuba have been traced, in large ago. This child is now a refugee living in August 12, 1963; Radio CMQ, November 15,
measure, to the poor quality of Russian cat- Key West. 1963; Informe Sobre Cuba, November 16,,
The disastrous state of public health in 1963; Decree Law 1, 141; Hoy, May 23, 1964;
g put. The suture is not absorbed by the Cuba often is successfully hidden from Amer- The Miami News, March 28, 1965; El Mun-
healing the wound. In many wound. In maycases, retarding cases, the out- the ican doctors who know no Spanish and do do, November 16, 1965; Radio CMQ, Febru-
come Is fatal. t is so not take the time to consider pre-Castro ary 11, 1964; Boletin Medico, Vol. 1, No. 2,
bad that fat Penicillin anfrom Red today u use it e it medical conditions before traveling to the April, 1964; Granma, February 28, 1966; Cir-
o physicians i n Cuba today island. On January 30,_ 1968, Dr. Albert B. cular No. 3, Department of Supply, Clinica
only in dying cases, Dental material from Sabin, developer of the oral vaccine, was in- Beneflca, Havana, February 26, 1963; Cuba
Soviet-bloc countries is of an inferior quality, terviewed by Al Volker of the Miami Herald Obrera, August, 1964; The Miami News,
coagulants, constantly fall out, der are entures or or regarding his views of Cuba following a trip January 30, 1968; Washington Evening Star,
materials build d there, January 31, 1968; Agenda de Informaciones
Periodisticas, February 6, 1968; The Miami
quality dental anesthetics.
Even the most indispensible, -.tome are said: "Cuba has done well providing Herald, April 7, 1968; Gazeta Oflcial de Cuba,
lacking in Cuban medicine cine today. There , medical services in general, including ding the January 15, .1964; Informe Sobre Cuba, Au-
laxatives, cotton, aspirin, iodine, mercurochromee, rural areas. Whatever you think of the gust 29, 1963; Radio CMQ, June 1, 1964;
laxatives, sedatives, antibiotics, hydrogen Castro regime, it must be recognized that Radio PJune 26, 1963; depositions
peroxide and the like. Often a patient is health services there are very well organized and o Progreso,
rogres u e 26, 19tepositio
prepared for surgery and surgery is post- and vaccine is being carried to the children dentists vie dwit 329 9 medical covering all fields
ci of
paned for lack of the most simple of ingot- extraordinarily well." Dr. Sabre's views con- specialization and general medicine.
Mexican
of Chilean
ith th
l
,
ose
y w
clients, available to country doctors in the trast sharp
Jungles of Bolivia and Brazil. Operating and Brazilian doctors who attended a confer-
rooms at most hospitals lack elementary ence on gastroenteritis in the city of Santa
things-detergents, disinfectants, gauze, cot- Clara and came away appalled by the almost
ton and plaster of pans: As a result, hygiene medieval practices of Cuban medical doctors,
in surgical rooms is at a minimum and the It may be supposed that Dr. Sabin was given
rate of post-operative infections is epidemic one or another guided tour by the Castro
in proportions. Mortality rates are at an all regime.
time high. -Y - _ SUMMARY
It is impossible to find in Cuba drugs to
treat conditions such as high blood pressure,
anemia and helSatitis. Person suffering from
these diseases have recurred to household
remedies used in Spanish colonial times. And
many patients refuse to go to hospitals, cer-
tain that they will never leave the premises
alive.
Yet, in 1964 the Cuban ship Sierra Maestra
sailed from the Port of Matanzas to Algeria,
loaded with American manufactured medical
health services in Communist Cuba can be
attributed to a number of factors: disinte-
gration of public health services and lack of
facilities; flight of trained personnel in vir-
tually every category of Cuban life; the use
of new medical and paramedical personnel;
the takeover by the state of all private prac-
tice and private clinics resulting in a col-
lapse of basic hygienic practice at every level;
the socialization of medicine; the lack of de-
CONCLUSION OF MORNING
BUSINESS
Mr. BYRD of West Virginia. Mr. Pres-
ident, is there further morning business?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
further morning business? If not, morn-
ing business is concluded.
RENEGOTIATION ACT-INTERNA-
TIONAL ANTIDUMPING ACT-IN-
TERNATIONAL COFFEE AGREE-
MENT
Mr. BYRD of West Virginia. Mr.
President, I ask unanimous consent that
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE .September 11, 1968
the Senate proceed to the consideration
of the unfinished business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill
will be stated by title for the informa-
tion of the Senate.
The BILL CLERK. A bill (H.R. 17324)
to extend and amend the Renegotiation
Act of 1951, to suspend the Interna-
tional Antidumping Code, and to imple-
ment the International Coffee Agree-
ment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection to the present consideration
of the bill?
There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. BYRD of West Virginia. Mr.
President, I suggest the absence of a
quorum and ask unanimous consent that
the time not be charged against either
side.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. there
objection to the request of the `Senator
from West Virginia? The Chair hears
none, and it Is so ordered. The clerk will
call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the
roll.
Mr. HARTKE. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, It is so ordered.
Mr..BYRD of West Virginia. Mr. Presi-
dent, I yield to the Senator from Indiana
5 minutes on the bill.
Mr. HARTKE. I yield to the Senator
from Alabama.
Mr. SPARKMAN. Mr. President, I wish
to ask the Senator froz>?i Indiana a ques-
tion.
The Senator knows that the Senator
from Wisconsin [Mr. PROxMIREJ and I,
on August 1, intr used a proposed
amendment to this 1111, relating to in-
come tax treatment of small business in-
vestment companies. t was fully my In-
tention to call up th t amendment; but
I understand-and I sk whether my un-
derstanding is corn t-that there has
been some discussio and some consid-
eration of this pro sal in the commit-
tee, and the thought is that there should
be hearings on It, a separate bill. Is
my understanding co rect?
Mr. HARTKE. Th understanding of
the Senator from abama Is correct.
This matter was b ught before the
Committee on Financ at the time of the
consideration of this b 1, and it was the
understanding at that time that there
was a possibility of th proposal being
adopted as an amendme t. In the com-
mittee itself we decided 4ainst accept-
ing the amendment, for tl reason that
we thought this matter w of such a
nature that greater consider ion should
be given to it than possibl could be
given to it at the time we had execu-
tive session.
In addition, the committee was f the
opinion that it -would be necessa to
have hearings on this matter so that he
complete merits of the situation could
discussed.
I assure the Senator that the Com-
mittee on Finance will be willing to have
such hearings and will cooperate with
the chairman of the Committee on Bank-
Ing and Currency and with Senator
PROXMIRE, as cosponsors of the amend-
ment, so that this matter can be properly
researched and discussed and so that
there will be proper Consideration of a
very Important problem which affects
the small business people of the United
States.
Mr. SPARKMAN. I wonder whether
the Senator has any idea as to how soon
those hearings might be held.
Mr. HARTKE. I do not, but I assure
the Senator that I will take the matter up
with the chairman of the committee, and
we will be in touch with the Senator from
Alabama and will try to schedule hear-
ings at the earliest possible moment.
Mr. SPARKMAN. Mr. President, in
view of the situation that prevails in the
committee, and in view of the assurance
on the part of the Senator from Indiana,
I will not call up my amendment.
However, at this time I ask unanimous
consent to have printed in the RECORD
a letter from the Treasury Department,
ure, addressed
Louisiana [Mr.
dressed to the
United States
arding this meas-
Senator from
NGI, ch an of the
once, and letter ad-
ice Preside t of the
Mr. Boutformer
Administrator of the Small Bushi ss Ad-
ministration, submitting the proposed
legislation, calling; attention to the, act
that this is an adnnistration bill which
has been approved by the Small Business
Administration and ky the Bureau of the
Budget. The Treasury Department in-
dicates In Its letter teat it would defer
to the opinion of thT Small Business
Administration.
There being no objection, the letters
were ordered to be printrld in the RECORD,
as follows:
TREASURY D4PARTMENT,
Washington, D.C., April 18, 1968.
Hon. RUSSELL B. LONG,
Chairman, committee an Finance,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. CHArssAN: This is in response
to your request for this Department's views
with respect to S. 1863, "A !rill to amend
the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 with
respect to the income tax treatment of small
business investment companies."
This bill and S. 1862 have been sponsored
by the Small Business Administration as a
comprehensive proposal designed to improve
the effectiveness of the small business in-
vestment company program. Si 1862 as modi-
fied by the Congress was enacted as Public
Law 94--104 and was signed bf the President
on October 11, 1967.
The Treasury has not ads any Inde-
pendent investigation of the SBIC Industry
which would enable this D artment to ex-
press any view as to the ne for revision of
the tax treatment of SBI or as to the ef-
fect of the proposed revisiCon the industrj.
However, in view of the terest in the pos-
sibility of revising such t4x treatment as part
of the overall review or, the SBIC program
which has been underte1cen by Congress and
the Small Business !Administration, the
Treasury cooperated An the preparation of
this legislative proposal which is designed
to accomplish cerWn objectives set forth
by the SBA.
This proposal ' ontalns a combination of
ovisions rotated to improve the SBIC in-
of jtastieu36r tax benefits. Considered sepa-
rately, these benefits are available singly to
several various limited classes of other tax-
payers in certain circumstances under ex-
istlreg law, although no taxpayer presently
obtains all, or a majority, of these benefits
in combination. Whether this combination
of tax benefits extended to smatl business
Investment companies will efficiently accom-
plIsh the goals set forth for this program by
the Small Business Administration Is a ques-
tion on which the Treasul y Department ex-
presses no slew and defers to the Small
Business Administration.
The Bureau of the Budget has advised the
Treasury Department that there is no ob-
ject on from the standpoint of the Ad-
minatration'a program to the presentation
of this report.
Sincerely yours.
STANLEY S. SURREY,
Assistant Secretary.
SMALL 13USINESs ADMINISTRATION,
Washington, D.C., May 20, 1967.
Ron HUDERT H. HUMPHREY,
President of the Senate,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Enclosed are copies
of two draft bills, together with section-by-
section analyses thereof. The that of the
bills would emend the Small Business Act
and the Small Business Investmc?-nt Act of
1958. The second bill would amend the
Inte:sal Revenue Code of 1954 with respect
to the Income tax treatment of small busi-
ness Investment companies. For the reasons
stated in the analyses, I recommend the en-
actn.ent of this legislation.
Title I of the first bill would effect certain
Increases in the limitations governing the
amount of obligations and commitments
which may b3 outstanding at any one time
from the business loan and Investment fund
of the Small Business Administration. It
would also have the effect of lengthening the
maximum term permitted on business loans
.made by SBA for construction purposes;
would increase the authority of SBA to
establish advisory boards and to reimburse
the members of such boards, as well as
othe: persona cooperating in the work of
the Agency, for expenses Incurred by them;
and Would broaden the authority of the
Agency to utilize the malls for,the promo-
tion of'its programs.
Tittle 'II of the first bill would introduce
major changes in the small business invest-
ment prooo$$$ra-_ established by the Small Busi-
ness Investment Act of 1968 to provide small
business oncerns with equity capital and
long.-term financing. The provisions of this
title estgned to remedy three basic
weaknesse which have developed in the pro-
gram sine Its inception nine years ago.
The firs of these weaknesses Is that the
average s all business Investment company
Is much small, much too limited in
finar.cial sources and management skills, to
do the J contemplated by the Congress.
The seco d weakness is that the leverage in-
duce me is offered to investors by existing
law it not strong enough to attract pri-
vate capital in the volume needed to assure
the success of the program. The third weak-
ness Is that the financing provided to port-
folio companies by SBICs is mostly of a
d?bt nature, rather than the more desirable
equity-type investment.
Title II stipulates that, after enactment
of the bill, a license will net be Issued to an
applicant unless it has a private capitalIza-
tion of at least $1 million. Although this new
size standard would not be Immediately ap-
plicable to existing SBIQs, those which are
below it would be required to comply with
speciled time limits. These time provisions
are sufficiently broad and flexible to mini-
mize hardship.
The financial incentives offered by TitleII
should evoke E. satisfactory response from the
private market. Through the sale of deben-
tures to SBA. an SBIC could obtain up to
$7.5 million o_ Government financing. Addi-
tional financing could be obtained by an
SBIC which places at least 65 percent of its
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