00:00Blocked by the strongest nation on earth for over 60 years.
00:04No resources, no technology, not even US dollars.
00:08Why hasn't this country collapsed?
00:10Instead, it became the envy of many nations.
00:14Free education and healthcare for everyone.
00:17A medical system ranked among the world's best.
00:20They even export doctors.
00:23This is Cuba, the small island nation just 90 miles from America.
00:28Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, stretching like a crocodile between the Caribbean
00:33Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
00:35With an area of about 110,000 square kilometers and a population of 11 million, it sits just
00:41160 kilometers from Florida.
00:44On clear nights, you can even see the lights of America from Cuba's northern coast.
00:49But those 160 kilometers have become the longest political divide in the world.
00:53In 1962, the United States imposed a comprehensive economic, financial, and trade embargo on Cuba.
01:02It has now lasted over 60 years.
01:05In 2021, the US added Cuba back to its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
01:11Cuba is like a prisoner in the backyard of a giant neighbor, doors locked and windows sealed.
01:16The neighboring countries, Mexico, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, the Dominican Republic,
01:23are either poor themselves or aligned with America, unable to help much.
01:27Yet under this near-total siege, Cuba built one of the world's finest healthcare systems.
01:32From neighborhood clinics to major hospitals, medical care is completely free.
01:38Cuba has more doctors per capita than many developed countries, even surpassing the United States.
01:43Its infant mortality rate is below 15 per 1,000, lower than many US states.
01:49Life expectancy is 78 years, roughly equal to America.
01:54Even more impressive, Cuba developed its own COVID-19 vaccines, Abdallah, Soberana 02, Soberana Plus,
02:03making it one of the few developing nations capable of independently creating vaccines.
02:07It not only vaccinated its own population but exported to Vietnam, Venezuela, Mexico, and other countries.
02:15Cuba's medical diplomacy is unique.
02:18Tens of thousands of Cuban doctors have served in over 60 countries worldwide.
02:23Medical exports have become one of Cuba's most important sources of foreign income.
02:27But surrounded by ocean, Cuba's energy lifeline remains tightly constrained.
02:33Most power plants are over 30 years old, relics from the Soviet era.
02:37Spare parts are scarce due to US sanctions, even smart meters are hard to import.
02:43Cuba's largest power station breaks down constantly.
02:47In September 2020, a grid failure plunged the entire country into darkness.
02:51It was the fifth nationwide blackout in just one year.
02:56Solar power could help, but sanctions make equipment hard to obtain.
03:00Venezuela was once Cuba's oil lifeline, but after Venezuela's own economic collapse, those
03:06supplies dried up.
03:08Cuba now scours the globe for oil from Russia, Algeria, and Mexico, paying higher prices.
03:14The energy crisis is a daily survival struggle for Cuba.
03:18Cuba's economy is also highly skewed.
03:22Cigars and rum are national icons.
03:24But these alone cannot support 11 million people.
03:28Tourism was the economic backbone, with millions visiting each year.
03:32In 2019, 4.2 million tourists came.
03:37Then COVID hit, and by 2021, numbers dropped below 400,000.
03:42Those iconic classic cars on Havana streets have been patched and repaired for 60 years.
03:48Chevrolets with Russian engines, parts jury-rigged from whatever's available.
03:53A country under blockade for 60 years has turned improvisation into survival.
03:58But Cubans carry a uniquely Caribbean optimism.
04:02Children play in old Havana streets, elders chat on corners, and images of Che Guevara are
04:07everywhere.
04:09Education is completely free from primary school through university.
04:12The literacy rate exceeds 99%.
04:16Cuba punches above its weight in sports, especially baseball where it has won Olympic gold.
04:22In recent years, cooperation with China has deepened, providing power generation equipment.
04:28Cuba has also joined the BRICS mechanism, trying to break through the US-led embargo.
04:33Year after year, the United Nations votes overwhelmingly to end the embargo.
04:38Only the US and Israel oppose.
04:41But the resolution is non-binding.
04:44Cuba is like a boxer backed into a corner, bruised but never stopping, eyes still full of
04:49light.
04:50You blockade oil, I use a bicycle.
04:53You blockade food, I grow vegetables in empty lots.
04:57You blockade technology, I develop my own vaccines.
05:01If the blockade were lifted tomorrow, would Cuba boom or be consumed by capitalism?
05:06What do you think?
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