Cuba respects human rights far more than dozens of countries who receive support and even aid from the U.S.

George W. Bush, the self-described “war president,” has an insatiable need to threaten peaceful nations.

Recently, he took a break from Iran to focus on the tiny island nation of Cuba. Speaking at the State Department, he attempted to paint a grim picture of life in Cuba, relying on the type of malleable intelligence and fear-mongering that is now a trademark of his presidency. He called on the world to “put aside its differences” and support his predictable scheme to destabilize Cuban society.

Later that week, the world did put aside its differences, joining in near unanimous condemnation of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Passing with a vote of 184-4, the resolution implored the White House to repeal the embargo “as soon as possible,” due to violations of international law. Siding with Bush were the Marshall Islands, Palau and Israel, each of whose prosperity coincidentally depends on U.S. aid.

Now in its 45th year, the embargo bars Americans from any financial interaction with Cuba, including unlicensed donations or travel. Many in the traditionally conservative Cuban-American community were outraged in 2004 when Bush restricted their visits to family members on the island to once every three years and hardened limits on sending money.

Barred from seeing his two sons in Cuba, one Cuban-American Iraq War veteran wondered, “How does not allowing families see each other help democracy in Cuba?”

The embargo has cost Cuba an estimated $89 billion since its inception and $4 billion last year alone. Cuba’s foreign minister told the U.N. Cubans are greatly affected by the embargo, ranging from serious annoyances to needless suffering.

Tens of thousands of Cuban trains and buses have delayed or canceled their service for lack of U.S.-made parts. Access to food is limited due to the cost of importing from distant countries. A lack of life-saving pharmaceutical drugs and equipment produced by U.S. firms causes immeasurable pain and death. These are just a few countless tragic consequences for ordinary Cubans.

Why is Bush obsessed with toppling Cuba? Despite mass media spin, Cuba respects human rights far more than dozens of countries who receive support and even aid from the U.S. (Colombia, Georgia and Pakistan, to name a few). He may be afraid of the “threat of a good example,” explains preeminent philosopher Noam Chomsky. “The weaker and poorer a country is, the more dangerous it is as an example. If a tiny, poor country...can succeed in bringing about a better life for its people, some other place that has more resources will ask, ‘why not us?’”

Resource-poor Cuba certainly has improved life for its citizens since the 1959 revolution. Despite being one of few countries that receive no aid from the IMF or World Bank, Cuba is internationally recognized for providing its citizens with a very high standard of living, with “human development” rates comparable to America and Europe (higher than almost any other poor country).

High quality healthcare is free for all Cubans, and life expectancy rates are higher there than in poor communities of the U.S. They have the most doctors per capita in the world, and thousands of Cuban doctors offer free care in developing countries in an unprecedented humanitarian gesture. Thousands of international students, including nearly 100 Americans, study medicine for free in Cuba. Their only requirement is that upon graduation, the students return to their home country and practice in underserved areas.

Cuba eradicated illiteracy decades ago, and today spends more on education as a percentage of GDP than any nation, at 18 percent. Education is free for all through the doctorate level, and Cuban students test much higher than their regional counterparts.

The “right to food” is a constitutional right, and the U.N. recently hailed Cuba as a world model for feeding its population, including its prisoners.

“We haven’t seen even one malnourished person,” the UN expert said. Bush ignores these accomplishments, and has never visited the island.

I was curious and decided to skirt travel restrictions and check it out for myself. Although I was apprehensive at first, I ended up having a blast, hanging with young Cubans, going to movies, nightclubs and huge concerts on the beach, freely drinking, smoking and feasting. It became obvious to me that politicians and the media are wrong: Cubans live far better than the squalor much of the developing world endures.

Bush needs to listen to the Cuban people and the rest of the world by lifting the failed embargo and allowing Americans to experience Cuba for themselves.

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