Thanks to Left I on the News for this reference to the United States Government's latest piece of lunacy and spite in respect of Cuba. Granma International reports that a programme whereby 80 US medical students from deprived backgrounds learn to become doctors is to be shut down by the Bush administration because it breaks US laws about trading with Cuba. According to Granma "The scholarship program for young U.S. citizens arose in 1999, when Democrat representative Benny Thompson asked President Fidel Castro for help in finding a solution to the lack of doctors in his Mississippi Delta district. One year later, the Cuban president offered a plan of study for individuals unable to pay to study for a medical degree in the United States."
Whilst on the subject of Cuba, if you go to your local branch of Sainsburys and they don't sell Havana Club rum, you can fill in a customer feedback form and ask them to stock it. I persuaded my local store and now they have a supply on display. Most shops sell the imitation Bacardi brand, which claims to be genuine cuban rum but is distilled in the Bahamas. The Bacardi company are very close to US government departments and are heavy backers of the boycott Cuba lobby. So, get your own back, boycott Bacardi and have a Mojito or Cuba Libre made with genuine Havana Club Cuban rum.
