WI: USA accepts Cuba's aid durring Hurricane Katrina?

Pesigalam

Banned
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9311876/n...rina-aid-cuba-no-thanks-says-us/#.VteJBWf2Zpi
In separate Washington press briefings, both the White House and State Department spokesmen this week downplayed the Cuban government’s offer to send some 1,600 medics, field hospitals and 83 tons of medical supplies to ease the humanitarian disaster [in US following Hurricane Katrina].
...
They [Cuba doctors] remain on stand-by, their bags packed. And while they wait at a Havana medical school that normally houses international scholarship students, the brigade has been brushing up on English skills, the epidemiology common to natural disasters, and the local history of Louisiana and Mississippi.

A colleague of Dr. Suchay, Dr. Delvis Marta Fernandez, 32, is frustrated that she and the other doctors find themselves lingering in Havana.
“Let’s get going,” she said. “This is not political. This is a humanitarian emergency. People are dying and they need our help.”
What would be the impact for both Cuba and USA if the American government had accepted the Cuban aid offer? How would the experience impact U.S. citizens and the Cuban volunteers?
 

jahenders

Banned
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9311876/n...rina-aid-cuba-no-thanks-says-us/#.VteJBWf2Zpi
What would be the impact for both Cuba and USA if the American government had accepted the Cuban aid offer? How would the experience impact U.S. citizens and the Cuban volunteers?

I suspect that the impact would have been minimal. By the time they could get there, there were volunteers flowing in from all over and more might not have been efficiently used. Assuming that's the case, they might have felt marginalized and it wouldn't have had much impact on either side.

After Katrina, Mexico offered (and we accepted) help. Shortly after thousands of dislocated Katrina survivors were relocated to San Antonio (and housed across the street from us), a services company of the Mexican Army arrived and set up camp on the other side of us. Their plan was to provide water and food. However, there wasn't really any need of water because they shelters tied into city water. As far as food, they weren't allowed to provide food to the shelter for several days until health inspectors gave the OK and there wasn't really much need as the Red Cross and Salvation Army were already providing PLENTY of food and people were lined up every day to drop off donations.

So, while it was nice of the Mexicans to offer, by the time they could get there, there wasn't really any need. It was mainly a PR stunt -- the first time the Mexican Army was in Texas since 1847.
 

Pesigalam

Banned
I suspect that the impact would have been minimal. By the time they could get there, there were volunteers flowing in from all over and more might not have been efficiently used. Assuming that's the case, they might have felt marginalized and it wouldn't have had much impact on either side.

After Katrina, Mexico offered (and we accepted) help. Shortly after thousands of dislocated Katrina survivors were relocated to San Antonio (and housed across the street from us), a services company of the Mexican Army arrived and set up camp on the other side of us. Their plan was to provide water and food. However, there wasn't really any need of water because they shelters tied into city water. As far as food, they weren't allowed to provide food to the shelter for several days until health inspectors gave the OK and there wasn't really much need as the Red Cross and Salvation Army were already providing PLENTY of food and people were lined up every day to drop off donations.

So, while it was nice of the Mexicans to offer, by the time they could get there, there wasn't really any need. It was mainly a PR stunt -- the first time the Mexican Army was in Texas since 1847.
Oh, I did not mean to imply the Cuban aid would have some huge impact on the humanitarian situation. I'm more curious about the cultural and political outcomes for both Cuba and USA.
 
I think all those medics will have quite a bit of impact, especially if they give general medical care as well.

Remember in a lot of poor communities people go years without seeing a doctor or dentist and let problems linger because they can't pay. Free medical care is much different than food and water.
 
Michael Moore would film a documentary about how Cuban doctors took better care of poor, black Louisianans than the USA.
 
Top