It’s equal wage for workers of equal level in every government establishment in Cuba —Ambassador Pulido-Escandell

The Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in Nigeria is under the supervision of Ambassador Clara M. Pulido-Escandell. In this interview with CHRISTIAN APPOLOS, she gives insight into a seemingly utopian world in Cuba, where workers enjoy a heartwarming social security net such as free education, free healthcare and subsidisation of some food items. However, she notes that her country is suffering a great deal of economic hardship because of the blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States since the 1950s. Excerpts.

 

The organised labour in Nigeria has a good relationship with Cuba. What is the status of the treatment of trade unions in Cuba? Would you say they enjoy freedom of speech as their counterparts in Nigeria?

First I have to say that as a communist society, the labour force is so fundamental in Cuba. There is no way there will be socialism without the labour force. Socialist is first of all for the people, for the workers. So it is something that cannot be separated in any way. They always have to go together. In Cuba, we had such a traditional labour movement even before the revolution. We have a strong tradition when it comes to the labour movement.

The Central Workers Union of Cuba was created almost a hundred years ago. It is one of the oldest Cuban civil society organisations. It has a very strong tradition of fighting for the workers; fights such as equal payment and all the issues that workers normally request for in a capitalist society. And of course, a lot of their leaders joined the struggle against the dictatorship that was in Cuba before the revolution.

So, immediately after the revolution, the Cuban Workers Central (CTC), that is, the national workers union body, became a fundamental part of the Cuban political process. So there is no way you can think about Cuba without the role of the trade unions, without the role of the organised labour and workers at large.

Of course, the workers in Cuba have benefited so much from the socialist government. In Cuba we have free education for all, free medical care for all. We have a guaranteed social security. So these are among the many petitions workers union mostly demand for anywhere in the world.

We had the May Day celebration in Cuba last Sunday as workers in Nigeria did. We call May Day in Cuba the party of workers. We have a population of 11.2 million people in Cuba. But among this 11.2 million people that make up the entire population of our country, 5.5 million matched on May Day.

So we had half of our population match massively in Cuba in favour of the revolution. And that demonstration was organised by the CTC, the workers federation and not by the government. The president of Cuba was there and the Ministers, but it was an event of the trade unions. So this massive response is something peculiar in Cuba. If half of your population is demonstrating in favour of your political process on such a significant day, it means something. It means a smooth relationship with workers.

 

On workers welfare, how well does the Cuban government take care of workers welfare, from minimum wage to every other rights of workers and pensioners? 

First, we have equal salaries for equal positions. This is nationwide. You cannot find people in the same position even at different working places earning different salaries. Secondly, we have regulated the minimum wage and minimum pensions. Also, you have to consider that in the case of Cuba, welfare for workers and the people in general is not only in terms of wages.

This is because we have efficient and effective social security facilities. For instance, if you have free education for your children, education allowances will not be part of your wage. If you also have free healthcare, you definitely don’t need medical allowances as part of your wage and you will not also pay for any other health security premium. Because the free health care benefit you receive from the government is a full package.

We also have some list of food items that are subsidised by the government. These items we only pay a minimum price to purchase. This is also part of the food security provision of the Cuban government. And it is enjoyed by every Cuban citizen. So, considering the way the Cuban society is organised, it is very important to consider this when we talk about minimum wage and pensions.

There are many sections of social security the Cubans enjoy that are aimed at entrenching a standard living condition of the citizens both for the public working population and private workers. So yes, we have a good policy on minimum wage and pensions. At the same time, we have this social system, organised in such a way that the population has many benefits.

I want to conclude my response by saying something I have repeated anytime I have gone to the Ministry of Science and Technology and anytime that they have gone to the Ministry of Health and anytime that they have interacted with appropriate Nigerian institutions. If Cuba, a small country, underdeveloped, with very few natural resources and suffering a serious blockade, can develop biotechnology and vaccines. I am convinced that Nigeria, a great country with a lot of human resources, with a lot of natural resources, with a lot of capacities, can also do it. And we are here to offer win-win relations in this area, either for the government or for the private sector of Nigeria. Each part can offer what each part has and together, I am sure that we can do a lot of things.

 

Nigeria and Cuba relationship; what is the level of trade between Nigeria and Cuba?

Unfortunately, it is very small. It is almost nothing. And this is an area in which we have to work more, the Cuban companies and the Nigerian companies, in order to look for how to increase that trade. It is a very small relationship in the commercial area.

In the area of medicine, in previous times though, there have been two experiences where Cuba Medical Brigades came to Nigeria. The first one was in the 90s. As far as I know; it  was a bilateral cooperation between the World Health Organisation, Nigeria and Cuba. They were sent to some parts in northern Nigeria, Kano and Kaduna to be precise.

Secondly, about 15 years ago, more or less, there was also a second Cuban Medical Brigade working in Ekiti State. It was a special programme for eye surgery. They were there for about two to three years. But in general, it seems to me that there has not been a systematic interest in this area. In other African countries, you find permanent Cuba Medical Brigades working in their health system, but that has not been the case of Nigeria.

But despite that, we have had cooperation in the area of health in two aspects. One was for the training of healthcare personnel in Cuba. More than 100 Nigerians have studied medicine in Cuba though it is not a big figure, but it is relevant.

In the case of human resources, we have made a small contribution and some of them are specialists and they are working in many hospitals here in Nigeria. And I can say that they are very cordial with medical doctors.

 

The US blockade policy against Cuba, does it affect the relationships between Cuba and other countries in Africa, Europe or elsewhere? Is it in any way the reason the trade between Nigeria and Cuba is minimal?

It is one of the reasons. First, you have to consider that because of the blockade, Cuba cannot use the US Dollar in our economic transaction. It is prohibited. If the US government realised that any company or bank or agency or whatever is doing business with Cuba in US dollars, they can punish that company or that country or that bank or that government by American law. I am not talking about a theoretical issue, I am saying this because several companies or banks belonging to third countries have had to face trial in the US territory or have been notified that they have to pay back huge amounts of money because of this relationship.

They set several examples in the area of banking and knowledge areas too. So, that is something that sometimes discourages people from doing business with Cuba. But at the same time, there are many companies all over the world, including Africa, that do business with Cuba, even here in Nigeria. The minimal trade between Cuba and Nigeria present are mainly conducted by private companies in Nigeria. So, they have found a way to do business with Cuba without violating any relation with the US.

For decades, we have had to deal with this. There are of course other factors such as trade orientation, what we produce, long distance and so on. So there are other factors that are responsible for the low trade between Cuba and many countries.

But I cannot deny that the US blockade against Cuba affects or discourages many companies from doing business with Cuba. This is one of the issues that we denounce every year at the United Nations General Assembly and in every conversation we have with people that have interest in world peace. I am sure that you know that yearly at the UN General Assembly, there is a resolution against the blockade and that resolution is voted massively in favour of Cuba. The resolution seeks the end of the blockade.

This is the situation and we have to continue working on it. On this, I have to express my deep appreciation of the support of the Nigerian government in that regard. Nigeria has voted consistently with Cuba, as well as other African countries. The African continent is always supporting this resolution, not only at the unit at the UN General Assembly, even at the African Union summits. At every African Union summit, there is also a resolution condemning the blockade and asking for the end of it. Yearly, there are only two resolutions in the African Union summit that are not related to Africa. One for Palestine, and the other one against the blockade. We are very grateful to Africa for this common position regarding the blockade. It is not only a governmental issue here in Nigeria, Nigeria is one of the examples of a country consistently being in solidarity with Cuba where the other people leave.

Last May Day, when the presidents of NLC and TUC made their statement, it was a full page dedicated to Cuba, making a petition to end the blockade. And we are very grateful to the organised labour here in Nigeria. In 2019, they organised a meeting together with the platform in solidarity with Cuba here in Nigeria, called the six African conference in solidarity with Cuba. They also made a resolution requesting the end of the blockade. So the solidarity that we receive from our Nigerian brothers and sisters is something very special that always reaches the heart of the Cubans.

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