Latin America Essays (1285 words) - Guatemalan Revolution

Latin America Latin America After world War II until the 1980's, many Latin American leaders installed reforms to deal with new demanding issues in their country. These new reforms were frequently viewed by the United States as alarming due to the recent rise of communism in the world. Following almost a century of alliance, Americans and Russians disagreement came to the front line when in 1917 the Communists seized power, and established the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would come to declared war on the capitalist nations of the West. The two countries put all this aside in their mutual hatred for one another, and fought against Germany during World War II. This alliance would come to an end between 1944-45, when Joseph Stalin looking to extend Soviet control used the Soviet army to control much of Eastern Europe. This cold war rivalry, would soon emerge into a contest to obtain allies. The U.S. foreign policy following World War II confronted primarily in assisting the countries in Europe. The concentration of aid to Europe was a immense concern to the countries of Latin America. Latin America countries wanted the U.S. to stress economic development in the post war era. The U.S. believed that it needed to promote postwar economic development in Latin America but was unwilling to make a specific commitment for assistance. As a region Latin America ranked low on the U.S. priority list; other area were seen as facing more immediate Soviet threats. The lack of attention by the U.S. to the pressing social. political and economic problems in Latin America would prove costly to the U.S. The cost would come in the form of new political views emerging to deal with the problems at hand. The U.S. would come to pay attention to Latin America, that it was supposed to at the beginning of the cold war, and take action to stop the spread of communism. One of the first situations faced by the U.S. was Guatemala, lead by the soldier, and president of Guatemala, Jacobo (1951-54) whose nationalistic economic and social reforms singled out groups of conservative landowners, and conservative elements in the army, and U.S. companies stationed in Guatemala. The son of a Swiss pharmacist who had emigrated to Guatemala, Arbenz was educated at the National Military Academy of Guatemala. He later joined a group of leftist army officers that overthrew the Guatemalan dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944. In March 1951 he succeeded to the presidency, supported by the army and the left-wing political parties, including the Guatemalan Communist Party. Arbenz made land reform the central project of his presidency, this led to a conflict with the largest landowner in the country, the United Fruit Company. As the land reforms increased, the U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, became increasingly alarmed, fearing the threat due to a large American banana investments. Public view of Arbenz, was that he was a friend of communists. The U.S., during the Eisenhower administration, began working in Honduras and El Salvador, helping to organize a counterrevolutionary army of exiles led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. On June 18,1954 a force of 150 invaded Guatemala from Honduras, the key to the invasion was not the exile force, but the regular Guatemalan army. When Arbenz tried to arm his civilian supporters, the army blocked the move and forced Arbenz to resign on June 27 1954, and went into exile. Castillo Armas, would succeed Arbenz as president, reversed most of the reforms of the previous decade and offered generous concessions to foreign investors. During the fighting, Guatemala appealed to the UN Security council to end the fighting, but the diplomatic offensive fell victim to big power politics by the U.S., which was chairing the council in June of 1954. Another situation in which the U.S. tried to impose their will on Latin America, was the invasion of at the Bay of Pigs April 17, 1961. The invasion was financed and directed by the CIA, within six months of Castro's overthrow of Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista's in January 1959. Relations between the Castro government and the United States began to decline. The new Cuban government, under Fidel Castro confiscated private property, sent agents to initiate revolutions in several Latin American countries, and established diplomatic and economic ties with leading socialist powers, such as USSR In June Congress had passed legislation enabling President Dwight D. to take retaliatory steps against Cuba. The United States cut off sugar purchases from Cuba and soon afterward placed an embargo on

Salud! and Cuban healthcare system

Salud! and Cuban healthcare system According to the film ‘Salud’, physicians reside within the neighborhoods that they are supposed to serve (Gorry, 2009). The Cuban healthcare system focuses mainly on preventive services and execution of rapid treatment whenever patients are admitted to hospitals. Effective emergency responders to cater for unexpected events such as earthquakes have also been trained in Cuba.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on â€Å"Salud!† and Cuban healthcare system specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are several Cuban doctors who have been dispatched to over 100 countries across the world. Some of the countries being served by Cuban doctors include Venezuela, Central America, South Africa and Gambia. These are fulltime medical experts. However, the US doctors can only be dispatched to destinations that demand specialized emergency care on short term basis (Gorry, 2009). Free medial training is offered to s tudents from the United States, Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world. Although Cuba is a poor nation compared to the US, it trains medical personnel at no cost. This is not the case with the US. There are no private healthcare systems in Cuba since all the healthcare establishments are run by the government (Carrol, 2007). A robust private sector orientation is one of the strengths of the US healthcare system. A private system ensures that product manufacturers can continually undertake medical innovation with the aim of improving both quality and access to healthcare for individuals who are well covered by medical insurance. For example, there is a great level of flexibility for employer-based insurance because it is easy to adjust the system at any time according to the changing healthcare dynamics (Institute of Medicine, 2003). On the other hand, coverage controlled by the employer cannot be possessed by an employee due to lack of portability. Therefore, employees a ttached to short term employment contracts may suffer as a result of this weakness. Moreover, incentives for prevention are minimal because several workers often shift from one job to another on a regular basis. Rapid escalation of healthcare cost is yet another weakness of the US healthcare system. This has been worsened by expansive coverage due to the federal tax exemption advanced to employers (Institute of Medicine, 2001). The best way the US system can be transformed is by adopting a market-based system through a well planned incremental approach. This will improve healthcare efficiency. The federal tax law can be reformed in such a way that open-hand arrangements are avoided. The latter can be replaced by the use of vouchers. Regulatory regimes can also be created by individual states so that coverage rules and regulations are controlled at the local level.Advertising Looking for term paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There are quite a number of aspects in the Cuban healthcare system that the US healthcare ought to adopt. For instance, it is vital to note that the Cuban healthcare system is significantly affordable to patients compared to that of the United States. Cuba spends about US$5.49 for in-patient hospital stay per day (Carrol, 2007). On the other hand, the United States healthcare system demands approximately US$ 1,994 to sustain an in-patient for a single day in hospital (Institute of Medicine, 2003). These are remarkable differences in terms of healthcare costs between the two countries. The US healthcare system should embrace ways of reducing the cost of accessing medical care and also improving quality. Even though the US healthcare system is costly to healthcare recipients, quality in some healthcare institutions is till below the expected standards. As much as importation of some medical merchandise takes place in Cuba, a significant amount of medica l goods are still manufactured locally. However, the cost of labor is lower in Cuba than the US. If the United States can lower the cost of labor and improve local production of vital medicinal products, then access and quality towards healthcare will equally be boosted (Institute of Medicine, 2001). In addition, personal effects such as water, food, hypodermic needles and bed sheets can be brought by patients into hospitals as it is the case in Cuba. When patients are allowed to take care of basic personal expenses, the government healthcare systems will lower the cost of operations by a remarkable margin. References Carrol, R. (2007). Economic crisis boost to health of Cubans. London: The Guardian. Gorry, C. (2009). Salud! Cuba’s Medical Diplomacy. Retrieved from lahabana.com/content/salud-cubas-medical-diplomacy/ Institute of Medicine (2001). Aligning payment policies with quality improvement. In crossing the quality chasm. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.Adve rtising We will write a custom term paper sample on â€Å"Salud!† and Cuban healthcare system specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Institute of Medicine (2003). The healthcare environment and its relations to disparities. In Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.