An Antidote to Loneliness? Cuba’s pandemic medical diplomacy

Dec 27

Dec 27 An Antidote to Loneliness? Cuba’s pandemic medical diplomacy

Although trendy for students to stick-up Cuban flags in sporadic shows of support for cheap cigars, socialism, and beach holidays, multilateral legitimacy has been harder for Cuba to come by. European and North American governments principally perceive Cuba as an untrustworthy outlier, a state which suppresses freedom of expression and cooks foreign diplomats with microwaves. However, COVID-19 has changed this. Through effective medical internationalism, which centralises the value of community, Cuba has steadily increased international authority.

The global increase in loneliness has been fundamental in Cuba’s effective dissemination of solidarity through medical diplomacy. Best defined as a feeling of emptiness characterised by a lack of meaningful emotional connections, loneliness was first labelled an ‘epidemic' in 2017 by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Not solely a social concern, the appointment of a UK Minister for Loneliness in 2018 was made primarily to combat the annual £1.8 billion spent combatting it amongst over-50s. Not only can loneliness reinforce depression and reduce mutual trust, studies suggest it is as damaging for physical health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and it has even been claimed to be twice as dangerous as obesity. Even more alarmingly, loneliness reduces Natural Killer Cell production, increasing the likelihood of cancer. Neoliberalism, championing individual success above group cohesion, is argued by historian Fay Bound Alberti as primarily responsible for increased references to loneliness in popular discourse since 1800. With more people living alone, or spending their time online whilst with others, loneliness has ballooned in 2020.

Cuba’s historical antagonism towards US neoliberalism, traditionally rooted in political socialism, has arguably transitioned towards a less overtly ideological defence of community values and rebuttal of loneliness. To overcome institutional barriers to multilateral legitimacy, such as close security ties with much-maligned states like Iran, the Cuban government has centralised international cooperation initiatives through Congress Guideline 84. From medical teams initiating autonomous community debate over medical support packages, to the successful implementation of the country’s ‘Yo, sí puedo’ literacy programme in Bolivia, Cuban diplomacy-perhaps unsurprisingly-prioritises solidarity. Considering three in five US adults define themselves as lonely, it is little surprise that Kofi Annan’s call that ‘Cuba should be the envy of many other nations’ continues to grow in strength.

Building on this long-term antagonism to neoliberalism, Cuba has used medical diplomacy in 2020 to position itself as a flag-bearer of international empathy. Displaying a strong domestic response to the pandemic, with a death rate 45 times lower than the UK, Cuba has been able to support states with greater economic clout. Take for example the UK government’s praise for Cuba’s unhesitant acceptance of stranded cruise ship MS Braemer in March. Despite 52 on-board COVID cases, compared to only five in the whole of Cuba, this demonstration of altruism was starkly contrasted to the US’ refusal to permit docking and proved to be a rare diplomatic coup for the country. Overseas, the flagship Henry Reeve Brigade, a team of 25,000 Cuban doctors trained with 'a humanist focus', have been made freely available to the WHO for deployment in countries of their choosing. Working in the likes of Italy, Qatar and South Africa, the sense of civic responsibility these doctors are engendered with is a crucial part of Cuba’s communication of national solidarity in lonely societies.

Negative domestic press, such as the San Isidro Movement’s criticisms of government repression, are subsumed by the likes of Sicily’s successful request to Cuba on November 25 for more medical support. This challenges the North-South divide, giving Cuba more legitimacy in the likes of the WHO and UN. That the Brigade has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize is a demonstration of the humanitarian image that characterises the country’s medical approach, combatting a lack of meaningful emotional connections alongside COVID-19 itself.

Facilitating communities through mutual empathy does offset loneliness. Take the Haredim population in Israel, who have a life expectancy four to seven years higher than their socioeconomic position would suggest, despite high obesity levels and Vitamin D deficiencies. This, Professor of Health Economics Dov Chernichovsky suggests, is due to strong societal emotional connections which reduce feelings of isolation. Cuba’s medical internationalism replicates these communities in societies feeling the strain of non-reflexive political individualism.

When stricter food rationing and illegal government coercion are subsumed by the country’s endogenous community ideology in international media, substantial political benefits ensue. Cuba’s diaspora communities have helped to establish preliminary cooperation agreements in 21 countries, 13 in Latin America, preceding institutionalised diplomatic relations. Empathetic medical communication has for example been crucial in the decision of Pacific-Island states, previously loyal to the US, in voting against the current US blockade on Cuba.

To solidify the country’s legitimacy in international organisations still dominated by European and North American values, Cuba has championed solidarity beyond medical internationalism. The ‘Artes de Cuba’ festival, bringing together 400 Cuban artists at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington, has centralised community through cultural diplomacy. The festival’s curator, Alicia Adams, emphasises the target of the festival as demonstrating the ‘humanity and beauty of Cuban arts’, cementing meaningful emotional connections between Cuban and US citizens beyond medical relations.

When estimates suggest our average daily listening time has decreased from 42% to 24%, Cuba’s empathy in COVID-19 is effective. Hailed by former WHO Director-General Margaret Chan as ‘famous throughout the world for its generosity and solidarity towards developing countries’, medical internationalism which disseminates solidarity offers a clear route to multilateral legitimacy. As much as an emerging market for Fidel Castro face-masks suggest traditional socialist values are enough for some, Cuba’s diplomatic response to societal loneliness has proved remarkably effective.