CUBA STEPS UP ITS MISSION IN BOLIVIA

S E C R E T LA PAZ 001281

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2017
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL BL CU
SUBJECT: CUBA STEPS UP ITS MISSION IN BOLIVIA

Classified By: Ecopol Counselor Andrew Erickson for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Summary: Overt Cuban presence in Bolivia consists
primarily of medical assistance and literacy programs. There
are an estimated 2,000 Cuban medical personnel in Bolivia, of
which 1,200 claim to be doctors. Cuba has funded 11
opthamology centers in Bolivia, and the Cuban Government
recently announced an expansion of medical outreach through
the funding of 23 additional hospitals. Bolivian medical
personnel resent Cuban interference in the health sector, as
Bolivian doctors are severely underpaid and underemployed.
Cuba also helped to launch a literacy campaign in Bolivia in
March 2006. The campaign, modeled after Cuba's own literacy
program, has received great fanfare in Bolivia, and President
Morales is already touting its success in some rural areas.
Cuban involvement in medical and educational missions has led
to an increased Cuban presence in Bolivia, although exact
numbers are unknown. End summary.

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Medical Assistance
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2. (S/NF) The Bolivian Medical Association estimates there
are 2,000 medical personnel in Bolivia, of which 1,200 claim
to be doctors. Post believes that some Cuban intelligence
officials enter Bolivia under the guise of medical and
educational missions, but we cannot verify to what degree
this occurs. Cuban medical personnel are likely scattered
throughout all of Bolivia's nine departments, especially in
the more remote, rural areas. President Morales publicly
claims that Cuban doctors have assisted more than 1.6 million
Bolivians and saved more than 2,350 lives. Morales even
prefers Cuban doctors to Bolivian medical personnel for his
personal medical needs. On April 5, Morales attended a La
Paz clinic where Cuban doctors removed a mole from his left
eyelid. (Note: There is no shortage of Bolivian doctors.
According to the Bolivian Medical Association, there are
16,000 Bolivian doctors, 10,000 of whom are unemployed. End
note). In contrast, when Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera
had back surgery on May 1, he was attended by Bolivian
physicians in his hometown of Cochabamba.


3. (U) Cuba has funded 11 opthamology centers in Bolivia.
Morales claims that the Cuban eye clinics have performed more
than USD $80 million worth of free operations in 14 months.
In a public ceremony in Caracas on April 15, Morales
expressed his gratitude for Cuban assistance while taking aim
at the U.S. He said, "Cuba is a country that sends troops to
save lives, unlike other countries that send troops to end
lives. This is the profound difference between Cuba and the
United States."


4. (U) The Cuban Government announced on March 25 that they
are expanding medical outreach to Bolivia by funding 23
additional hospitals. The hospitals will be scattered
throughout 20 municipalities in six departments. Ten of the
donated hospitals will include equipment, ten will include
equipment and personnel, and three will be reserved for
Bolivia's National Police. In mid-April, President Morales
and Cuban Ambassador Rafael Dausa inaugurated a Cuban-funded
intensive therapy unit in the Camiri municipal hospital,
Santa Cruz Department. The unit will reportedly be staffed
by Cuban medical personnel until Bolivian specialists are
able take over in their place. Prior to the opening of the
Camiri intensive therapy unit, emergency patients had to be
taken to the departmental capital for care.


5. (SBU) Bolivian medical personnel resent Cuban interference
in the health sector as the country's doctors are severely
underpaid and underemployed. Health workers shut down public
hospitals on April 26, and Bolivian medical professionals
began a national strike on May 3 to demand a seven percent
increase in salary. Many health workers complain that Cuban
medical personnel are operating illegally in Bolivia as they
are not accredited to practice medicine in the country. At a
late-April meeting of the Medical Confederation of Latin
America and the Caribbean (CONFEMEL),the organization
denounced foreign interference in any nation's health sector.
CONFEMEL's declaration is reminiscent of Cuban medical
missions in Bolivia, and the organization even posted its
public denouncements in La Paz's leading daily, La Razon.
(Note: In December 2006, the World Medical Association issued
a similar declaration. End note).


6. (U) While medical professionals resent foreign
interference in the health sector, Cuban-funded medical
missions and free clinics remain wildly popular with
Bolivia's majority poor population.

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Literacy Campaign
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7. (U) The Cuban-style campaign to eradicate illiteracy was
launched in Santa Cruz in March 2006. The Cuban Ambassador
(as well as the Venezuelan Ambassador) participated in the
inaugural ceremony where President Morales promised to
eliminate illiteracy in 30 months. Twelve months later,
Morales was already touting the success of Bolivia's
Cuban-sponsored literacy campaign. On March 26, Morales
declared the town of Tolata, 33 kilometers outside of
Cochabamba, to be free of illiteracy. Minister of Education
and Culture, Victor Caceres, reported that Tolata is the
first completely literate Bolivian municipality. Meanwhile,
Bolivian teachers have been clashing with the GOB in recent
weeks over salary increases, the establishment of a pension
system, and the new education law. On May 7, urban teachers
ended their strike in all municipalities except La Paz, in
exchange for a six percent salary increase, but rural
teachers threatened to begin a 72-hour strike on May 9 if
their demands were not met.

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Comment
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8. (C) Comment: Cuban involvement in medical and educational
missions has led to an increased Cuban presence in Bolivia,
although exact numbers are unknown. The expansion of Cuban
medical assistance in recent months and the GOB's public
praise of Cuban-style literacy programs is an obvious
mechanism to garner support for President Morales in the
run-up to Constituent Assembly voting and the proposed
national elections. Morales' embrace of Cuban support, while
well-received and popular with the general population, has
alienated Bolivian health care and education workers. End
comment.
URS