Cuba did not have values above the very low threshold for undernourishment or child mortality at any point since 2000 and is therefore not included in the 2022 Global Hunger Index.

In the 2022 Global Hunger Index, Jamaica ranks 35th out of the 121 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2022 GHI scores. With a score of 7.0, Jamaica has a level of hunger that is low.

Undernourishment in Cuba has been under 5%, and child mortality under 1%, every year since the year 2000. For Jamaica undernourishment currently hovers at 6.9%, and child mortality 1.3%.

Anecdotes are useless in a discussion like this. I don't care what you think you saw, I care about the facts.

[+] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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[–] uralsolo@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago

Stats are stats. If Cuba, even while facing a crisis in its food production due to lack of seeds, gas, and fertilizer, is still able to feed its people better than its neighboring countries, then that is a stirring indictment of capitalism.
Both of your examples link to a drop in imports as the cause of shortages, itself a symptom of the ongoing global production crises caused by COVID-19. A wealthy country like the USA can paper over a problem like that by throwing around money and credit - a small country like Cuba can't.

Consider how Cuba's economy could possibly respond differently to this situation if it were capitalist. I suppose they could take massive IMF loans in order to shore up imports, at the cost of "structural adjustments" that cause untold damage to future generations by eliminating the government's mandate to run public services - but that plan hasn't exactly worked in the long term anywhere it has been tried.

The fact is that these crises are well outside the sphere of influence of Cuba's economy or government, and are exacerbated by American imperialism against Cuba and its allies (ie literally hijacking Venezuelan oil shipments using the US Navy). Regardless of political ideology or economic policy, Cuba would be facing these crises one way or the other, and centrally planned communism has proven time and time again that even if it's not perfect it's better at navigating these problems than a competitive market capitalist system is.