Editor’s Notes:

Years ago I had a book about Cuba written by two American doctors. The book was published in 1938. The doctors reported on their work of several years in that poverty-stricken island country. They wrote of a parasite that entered the body through the bare feet of the inhabitants and produced a painful, crippling swelling. The doctors eventually produced an antidote that could be injected, kill the parasite, and put patients back on their feet. The only problem, wrote the doctors, was that people could not afford shoes and so the cruel cycle continued.

This recollection is prompted by the story by Tom Fawthrop of BBC News, Medical know-how boosts Cuba's wealth.  Today, Cuba is one of the world’s leading medical centres for both treatment, teaching, research, and innovation. It trains young men and women as doctors and nurses from throughout the world but especially from central and South America. The article by Fawthrop makes fascinating reading, especially today when we know that all Cubans can afford shoes.

By the way, anyone who saw Motorcycle Diaries, if you were still paying attention, caught a glimpse of the man who was the founding director of Cuba’s medical system. He was Ché’s motorcycle buddy who responded to Ché’s call for help in the wake of Castro’s revolution. He appeared for a few seconds at the end of the movie, as he is today, an old man with a proud record of accomplishment.

Elsewhere we deal with Frank Stronach, father of Belinda, in case you don’t know who he is. He’s been spending a lot of time in Russia huddling with Vladimir Putin. As the story says, we can be pretty sure Frank is not lecturing Vlad about worker’s rights, and democracy. The odds are high that Frank is taking care of business. Magna to grow in Russia to accommodate that country’s automobile boom while ours hits the skids. Thousands of mostly Ontario workers face unemployment but Frank will come up roses, again.

As you’ve read previously in True North, while there’s a lot of tumult and shouting about Iran’s nuclear ambition, the Persian oil and gas infrastructure is in expanding shambles. Now Iran is polishing its store window in a bid to lure mucho capitalist money to save the day. Needless to say, the prospect of making money is always attractive but there are complications. Read all about it in this issue.

Then there are the pieces on Macao banking interests squabbling with Washington over trading with North Korea, and contracting-out Washington style. If they don’t rein it in, government will find itself on the proverbial outside looking in. Wondering what the hell happened!

Looking forward

Carl Dow

Editor and Publisher.