Strategic perspective on the management of Covid-19 in Cuba

Magda Luisa Arias Rivera[1]

Crisis management is one of the most complex, dynamic, and creative processes that managers face. For this reason, analyzing the experiences of managing the COVID-19 health crisis is especially important and timely. This work aims to analyze the Cuban experience, explain the particularities of the management model used by the government, and identify the barriers that must be overcome to guarantee the necessary results. Its content addresses theoretical elements of crisis management and provides the necessary information to understand the actions taken and the results achieved under very adverse conditions. This systematization focuses on the period from March to July 2020 and should be monitored and expanded.

Introduction

COVID-19 took everyone by surprise. The Cuban government demonstrated an early effort to integrate pre-established plans and protocols with the functioning of the country, convinced that the first priority of a responsible government is the lives of its citizens. And it did so not alone, but as part of the regional and global response to a planetary crisis.

Since January 2020, the Council of Ministers had approved a Plan for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus. Therefore, when the first case was detected on March 11, the necessary organizational and material conditions were in place. The government convened everyone to offer a social, scientific, political, and healthcare response capable of meeting the challenge posed by the pandemic.

Seven months after those initial steps, it is clear that each country, regardless of its level of development, economic solvency, scientific capabilities, and business strength, has acted and used different management models. The results known so far have overturned the prevailing paradigm and confirmed the inability of neoliberal capitalism to confront the pandemic, as well as to resolve pre-existing global economic, social, environmental, and governance problems.

There is a consensus that a different approach is needed. In this regard, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, speaking at a side event to the 2020 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, stated: “The response to the COVID-19 crisis requires a new social pact for a more inclusive welfare system.” The pandemic has highlighted the structural gaps in economic, social protection, and health that plague Latin America and the Caribbean.

The following characterizes the Cuban experience in managing COVID-19, shares the particularities of the management model used by the government, its points of contact with international practice, and points out the barriers that must be overcome to guarantee the results that are needed.

Its contribution lies in enriching the body of knowledge on management when the World Health Organization (WHO) extends the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and recommends adopting measures to strengthen the response to the virus and bolster national health systems, incentivize scientific research, and combat misinformation about the disease. Furthermore, it contributes to “finding ways to stop what is happening, and innovating with better data and responses,” as Adam Kucharski, associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in his book entitled The rules of contagion: why things spread and why they stop.

Crisis management

Crisis management is essentially a strategic problem due to its impact on normal operational stability, the availability of financial resources, the ability to meet objectives, and the guarantee of future functioning. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to crisis management must reconfigure the management structure (Ritchie, 2004). Strategic content provides greater adaptability, although some trivialize it and consider it a global game of trial and error.

Among the various perceptions, surprise prevails. Argentine authors explain it this way: “We are living through an absolutely exceptional time. For the first time, history is in suspense, astonished by an event whose protagonist is nature. It neither moves forward nor backward, and yet it moves in the same place… Suspense is not stillness, quite the opposite. It is as if history were being reset.” (Santucho, et al., 2020)

This pandemic transformed life, the landscape, and the risks very rapidly. It increased uncertainty regarding its duration and effects. Governments and organizations sought alternatives to respond to the operational and economic challenges of isolation, but management has been hampered by factors (Burnet, 1998) such as time pressure, a reduced degree of control over the situation, threats that altered its magnitude and severity, and additional limitations on decision-making options.

The response to the pandemic requires a great deal of improvisation on the fly (Sheppard & Anfield, 2020). There are varied opinions on the content and stages of crisis management by a state. In this regard, it is possible to accept the stages described by Toso & Harmitton (2020): risk assessment, effective and efficient risk communication, and proactive risk management, which summarize its essential content. 

In general, managing a crisis requires adequate risk management preparation and the ability to recognize the environment and identify warning signs of an impending crisis. Management planning makes a significant contribution, including fostering a culture of prevention and aligning structures and work teams. This necessitates consistent action from managers (Arias, 2020), coordination among stakeholders, and the ability to resolve conflicts as they arise.

Leaders need more than ever to have self-confidence and act decisively, aware of the cost of a wrong decision. They must project a clear strategy and have the humility to correct course as many times as necessary when the evidence demands changes (Sheppard & Anfield, 2020). Acknowledging the difficulties and being willing to redesign during the definition of recovery strategies demonstrates the ability to negotiate different viewpoints and reach consensus. At the same time, it is essential to evaluate learning and provide feedback. Therefore, leading in the midst of a crisis requires courage and confidence.

The Cuban management experience

Cuba's characteristics have shaped its response to the pandemic. Its geographic location and island status; its political and social system; the forms of state and civil society organization; and the state of its economy at the time the health crisis hit have all contributed to the development of a unique crisis management model. This model takes into account the elements and peculiarities of a small developing country, embedded in an interconnected and globalized world; a victim of a harsh economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States; and a country that seeks to provide the greatest possible level of justice and well-being to its inhabitants under extremely adverse circumstances.

Among the strengths for facing the health crisis and achieving advanced management are (Díaz-Canel & Núñez, 2020): the dedication of highly qualified and committed professionals, many of them with international experience; the existence of a universal, free, inclusive Public Health system, supported by a consolidated primary care system; the availability of health infrastructure and universities; the State budget allocation to finance health and social assistance expenses; the national medical-pharmaceutical industry with innovative products, and a scientific potential with the capacity to respond to diverse contingencies.

The philosophy adopted by Cuba to manage the numerous crises it has successfully overcome has been to prepare systematically, raise awareness, build unity and generate alignment of the management/administration bodies and all workers with the plans, and cultivate social and organizational commitment.

In other words, a culture of resilience has been created in which all Cubans have a place, a means, and the responsibility they must assume depending on the type of crisis. The warning plans and communication channels during these events are well-known.

With each of the crises experienced by the Cuban people during the years of the Revolution, a wealth of knowledge has been created that allows the different experiences to be capitalized on as part of the tacit knowledge in the management of the country and of organizations of all kinds, generating confidence in one's own performance, in the decisions and in the relationship between rulers and the ruled.

All the accumulated knowledge in the case of disaster medicine and control of the spread of diseases, plagues and epidemics, also associated with humanitarian law[2]It has become a valuable tool for managing the current health crisis. However, its role extends beyond simply implementing it; it also includes documenting the new experiences gained during the crisis and incorporating them into organizational growth mechanisms that maintain resilience.[3].

Because we are facing a multiple crisis –health and economic–, it is very important to dedicate time and resources to its analysis, to reflect scientifically on the lessons learned and to share the knowledge acquired, regardless of the pressure of daily life, which has been stimulated both by the government, as well as by academia and society (Martínez, For an exercise of thought that transforms the country, 2020).

In Cuba, crisis management involves the active and comprehensive participation of all sectors of the country, spearheaded by the Defense Councils within the administrative structures. These bodies, created in the 1980s based on the military doctrine of the people's war, have previously demonstrated their effectiveness in managing disasters and epidemics. They allow for the integration of national policies and decisions with local interests, the adoption of general, specific, and differentiated strategies, the leveraging of leadership, traditions, and organizational culture at every level, the training of all stakeholders, and the fostering of collective commitment and participation, while also providing structure and organization.

Particularities of the COVID-19 management model

During the current health crisis, the government's management has been characterized by its proactive, mobilizing, and dedicated approach. This is evident in its ability to activate available resources and leverage existing reserves.

Among the most significant elements are the legal backing, enshrined in the Constitution and several laws and decrees predating the pandemic[4]; the systematic implementation of national exercises – in particular the “Meteoro” exercises, to practice responding to catastrophes and epidemics –; the central delivery of training and instruction[5]; the obligation to have prevention plans and action protocols for the management of crises and the recovery from disasters and epidemics that allow limiting their impact, reducing possible damage, promoting recovery and readjustment of activity, once overcome.

Communication plays a crucial role, adhering to internationally accepted standards. In the case of COVID-19, the country implemented an information system in January 2020, supported by medical and scientific institutions, which legitimized the credibility of the data provided. This system not only systematized and validated the data, ensuring everyone received the necessary warnings and preparedness, but also yielded generalizations, projections, and recommendations on behavioral changes to reduce exposure to the virus and its effects.

The Ministry of Public Health maintains a system of daily briefings that provides professional, rapid, and empathetic communication to reduce emotional distress, foster understanding of the crisis's circumstances, consequences, potential outcomes, and personal response and self-efficacy activities. The prolonged nature of the crisis has required sustained persuasion and the implementation of dissuasive measures to maintain public understanding, prevent the so-called "infodemic," correct misinformation and rumors, and reinforce personal response measures to encourage informed decision-making.

In communication, the actions of the government at all levels, political and mass organizations, and healthcare workers have been vital. They have explained and persuaded the public about recovery and reconstruction efforts, facilitated open discussion and resolution of issues related to cause and blame, addressed the debate between freedom and responsibility, and promoted appropriate responses and public understanding of the new risks. All of this has been supported by extensive media coverage across all technological platforms, generating the essential public consensus.

Based on its own plans, each entity directs internal actions, coordinates them with higher hierarchies, and interacts with its immediate environment. This is all guided by the principles established in the Constitution of the Republic and the ethics of management.[6] They demand personal and managerial qualities that combine flexibility with openness to change, resilience and adaptability, agility and consistency, as well as credibility and coherence. It is a living construct, constantly evolving and being refined. Decisions that were successful at one time are modified when they are superseded by practice.

The national work system established for COVID-19 consists of a National Temporary Group; weekly meetings with experts and scientists to evaluate results and their application; activation of the Provincial and Municipal Defense Councils; daily press conferences; daily roundtables to provide updates on various aspects; a weekly working session with the Economic Advisory Group; visits to centers and organizations; analysis and monitoring with the Provincial Defense Councils; presentation of scientific results; monthly preparations by the Council of Ministers regarding impacts, scenarios, and productive transformation; approval and implementation of the Strategy for the recovery phase and the new normal; development of the Economic and Social Strategy to address a prolonged crisis scenario with the temporary groups of each Central State Administration Body (OACE); presentation of proposals to the government leadership, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, and the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers; presentation and approval by the Council of Ministers; and implementation and monitoring of implementation. This work system is adapted and replicated in the provinces and municipalities. Regarding the external front, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responds together with the system of Cuban state missions around the world, including collaboration missions.

International projection of the management strategy

The international projection of the management strategy is, above all, based on solidarity, a value highly demanded in an era of the bankruptcy of the globalized neoliberal model. Fidel Castro made solidarity an essential value of Cuban culture and foreign policy. It was present in his self-defense plea at the trial for the attack on the Moncada Barracks, when he said that “Cuban policy in America would be one of close solidarity with the democratic peoples of the continent,” and this has endured because Cubans “know what global solidarity is, and we feel obligated to all peoples who need our solidarity.”[7]

The international cooperation that Cuba offers is in accordance with the norms established by the UN[8] It is based on the principles of solidarity and mutual benefit. It is carried out without conditions and with strict respect for the principles of international law, sovereignty, national laws, culture, and the self-determination of states. It is conceived as a fundamental means to contribute to the integration and development processes of peoples.

In a recent intervention, the philosopher Edgar Morin reinforces the doctrine of solidarity in this context by pointing out that “the techno-economic unification of the world brought about by aggressive capitalism in the 1990s has generated an enormous paradox that the emergence of the coronavirus has now made visible to everyone: this interdependence between countries, instead of fostering real progress in the consciousness and understanding of peoples, has unleashed forms of selfishness and ultranationalism. The virus has unmasked this absence of an authentic planetary consciousness of humanity” (Ordine, 2020).

Since fragile global balances lacked organization and coordination (Lebret, 2020), in Latin America and the Caribbean mechanisms must be defined and established to put existing capacities at the service of societies, develop a common plan of action, design innovative mechanisms, call upon cooperation agencies to mobilize resources in favor of public policies that protect and strengthen strategic sectors, defend basic rights, and create a Global Emergency Fund[9]But everything can be questioned.

Therefore, when speaking at the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), then-President Raúl Castro insisted on the need to establish a new paradigm of regional and international cooperation, adapted to our realities, based on the principles of common benefit and solidarity, taking into account the best experiences developed in recent years by the countries of the region and by the Latin American and Caribbean integration organizations that over the years have already charted a course (Castro, 2014).

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) has sought to build consensus for international mobilization. “Together we can and will defeat this virus, with cooperation, solidarity, and faith in our common humanity” (Guterres, 2020). Faced with a lack of concrete responses, the Secretary-General criticized the lack of international coordination and warned that the individualistic policies of many states would not help defeat the coronavirus. It is necessary to pool resources and work together to ensure that treatments, diagnostic tools, and vaccines are available to all (Lederer, 2020). Political, economic, and social responses must be coordinated, including measures to address job losses, increased violence, and human rights violations. He also urged a ceasefire in all conflicts and an end to unilateral coercive measures, but in both cases, he received limited responses. Their calls have not changed behaviors such as that of the United States in monopolizing control and future sales of the first vaccine produced, ceasing to fund the World Health Organization, accusing it of giving a failed response to the coronavirus, or maintaining its unilateral sanctions against numerous countries, including the blockade against Cuba.

According to (Ramonet, 2020) “many leaders have focused on providing local, national responses, managing the pandemic independently, without true international coordination. When it is obvious that no country, however powerful, can defeat the pandemic in a purely local endeavor. The great powers have proven incapable of coordinating at a global level… No voice… has managed to make itself audible above the general din of fear and fury of this unprecedented upheaval.”

Latin America and the Caribbean “must move towards greater regional integration in production, trade and technology. Macroeconomic and productive coordination is crucial to negotiating the conditions of the new normal, particularly in an urgent dimension in the medium term: financing for a new style of development with equality and environmental sustainability” (Bárcena, 2020).

The positions defended by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) are supported by Cuba, whose Minister of Foreign Trade, Rodrigo Malmierca, declared: “The region continues to be committed to a renewed and strengthened multilateralism, discouraging extreme protectionist or nationalist positions, rejecting the adoption of unilateral coercive measures that violate the norms and principles of International Law, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and that undermine the consensus and joint efforts of our countries to overcome this humanitarian crisis and its effects, and to advance towards Sustainable Development.” “We must identify our potential and work with greater agility and flexibility in identifying opportunities, joint projects, and the exchange of successful experiences, taking advantage of the region’s extensive experience in carrying out initiatives through South-South and triangular cooperation” (Malmierca, 2020).

Cuba has made all of its national expertise available to the international community, both out of its own volition and in response to the call of the UN Secretary-General. It has shared its experiences in the multilateral arena in forums of the WHO, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), among others.

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) published the National Action Protocol for COVID-19 (MINSAP, 2020) and the strategy followed. Seven Cuban scientists were selected as experts to form the Advisory Group of the Inter-Academy Panel (IAP).[10] And 45 brigades from the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics are providing assistance in 38 countries and territories, with 3772 members, 2399 of whom are women, who have treated 255,372 patients and saved more than 8,000 lives. In addition, there are another 28,000 health workers in 58 countries who have joined national and local efforts to combat this disease and have treated more than 83,268 COVID-19 patients and saved 13,636 lives to date (Díaz-Canel, 2020).

The statement from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 16, 2020, supports the decision to call for international cooperation and solidarity, regardless of the political differences of governments, at a time when the world's greatest military, economic, technological and communications power is fueling and promoting conflicts, divisions, chauvinism, supremacist and racist positions, as well as making serious threats against peace in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, among other countries.

Convinced that it is time to act and to mobilize the will of those responsible for doing so, Cuba, from a humanitarian perspective, responds to requests for cooperation without pausing to consider political alignments or economic advantages. It shares medicines, healthcare personnel, and contributes its expertise. Meanwhile, the United States government seeks to acquire resources to combat the pandemic and pressures to impede Cuba's solidarity efforts, discredit its professionals, and block the possibility of revenue entering the country for some of the services provided. By preventing Cuban doctors and medicines from reaching other nations—since they promote a paradigm of healthcare and the commercialization of services, medicines, and medical supplies contrary to its interests—Washington also contributes to its objective of overthrowing the Cuban constitutional order, depriving the country of resources and creating needs.[11].

At the bilateral level, Cuban diplomatic missions implement the country's foreign policy, interact with governments, entities and institutions, businesses, and civil society, oversee cooperation initiatives, and share the country's experiences and perspectives. They are guided by the conviction to continue the independent and sovereign path chosen by the Cuban people.

Barriers that must be overcome

When analyzing the pandemic management process in Cuba (as in other countries), tensions arise due to errors made by some actors, overconfidence, or simply non-compliance with approved protocols. In the Cuban case, the increase in the number of cases after the easing of restrictions demonstrates the need to maintain control measures and raise awareness regarding risk perception. The irresponsibility of some individuals has been the main cause of the recent increase in cases, as they neglected social distancing and failed to observe hygiene and sanitation measures (Martínez, Overconfidence, a gap through which COVID-19 seeps, 2020). 

No less important are its manifestations in the economic sphere, which is based on the business sector. Given the pre-existing situation, work must continue on the systemic approach extended to the value chain. This means coordinated work with clients, suppliers, and strategic partners, based on the specific characteristics of their activities and personnel, without overlooking commercial assets, the supply chain, transportation, communications, and administrative processes. It is crucial to mitigate the decline in labor productivity due to stress, absenteeism, and reduced individual benefits resulting from the isolation measures adopted in Cuba and around the world, as well as to ensure trade, boost exports, and persist in seeking investment, even in an environment adverse to all of this.

It is also necessary to develop theoretical and methodological proposals[12] These insights, enriched by current experience, can be scientifically tested and contribute to future preparedness. It is essential to delve deeper, above all, into organizations' ability to continue operating, analyze crisis management costs and budget profitability, identify new organizational adaptation mechanisms regarding work and its new forms, technologies and the supply chain, the resilience of companies according to size, structure, strategic focus and financial projections, the capacity to adapt to new conditions, and strategies for creating value from Higher Business Management Organizations (HBMOs).

It is expected that a number of operating, operational, and management practices will change, especially in the economy. This will require monitoring financial information throughout the recovery period, ensuring its quality and use in making operational and long-term decisions, as well as making it readily available for investors and creditors. The experiences of companies and organizations that have demonstrated successful management, including adapting workspaces and implementing remote work, should also be studied.[13], as well as the international body of knowledge.

In addition to working on the implementation of the Local Development policy (Puig, 2020), emphasis is placed on food security within the agriculture, sugar, and food processing sectors. There is a high level of unmet demand. This is primarily due to technological backwardness, low yields, and limited availability of inputs. There are difficulties with the production of rice and pork, both staple foods in the population's diet. Current objectives include increasing planting levels, production based on agroecological methods, food storage, market sales, exports, and the industrial processing of agricultural products (Reyes, Labrador, delSol, & Nusa, 2020).

The economy also needs to maintain and improve contracting; bring agricultural products closer to people living in isolated or hard-to-reach communities; provide idle land for usufruct; prioritize urban, suburban, and family agriculture in intensive, organoponic, and semi-protected gardens; guarantee sugarcane production; and achieve effective linkages with all economic actors in the agri-food sector.

All economic changes must conform to the approved principles (MEP, 2020): centralized planning; priority for national production; market regulation mainly applying indirect methods; complementarity of economic actors (including external ones); dynamic role of domestic demand; management autonomy for the business sector; resizing of the business sector; competitiveness, efficiency and motivation for work; active environmental policy in harmony with the social order of the country.

In the current situation, the effects of external factors are exacerbated by the serious distortions caused by unresolved internal problems such as shortages, corruption, illegal activities, The misappropriation of resources, hoarding, and unjustified price increases. In this regard, actions are planned to address these issues and rigorously enforce the existing legal framework."We will act without exaggeration or disproportion, in a well-thought-out, articulated, and directed manner," the President announced. (Alonso, et al., 2020).

The country's top leadership issued a general call to improve the institutions and processes of all sectors of the economy, updating and modernizing them to facilitate management, while simultaneously urging a thorough review and examination of everything (Martínez, 2020). This duality reveals the democratic and participatory nature of the process, as rigorous questioning will identify what has been done well, what should be maintained, and what needs improvement.

Conclusions

The keys to Cuba's success in maintaining the best possible situation are directly related to an accurate assessment of the situation and its strengths and weaknesses in relation to it. Other factors include the immediate adoption of the containment protocol, open dialogue, inter-institutional and inter-sectoral collaboration, interdisciplinary participation, the deployment of intensive work to accelerate responses, active public communication, broad citizen engagement evidenced by the active participation of the public, young students, and workers, as well as the practice of solidarity and international cooperation.

All of this was combined with the implementation of what was approved at the most recent congresses of the Communist Party of Cuba, in the Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution, and the still-unimplemented aspects of the Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development—all documents of broad collective creation and therefore guarantors of the social contract between rulers and the ruled in Cuba. This approach is possible due to advance preparation for subsequent phases of economic support and rehabilitation; the reallocation of significant resources toward priorities; the adoption of monetary and fiscal regulatory policies; and other measures.

Internally, the comprehensive approach to local solutions, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of the epidemic management, still require follow-up, so that in addition to overcoming the pandemic, greater efforts must be made to foster a climate of cooperation and solidarity. Externally, these efforts in both spheres must drive the productive transformation the country needs, increase efficiency, productivity, profitability, and income, satisfy domestic demands, boost exports, and promote the well-being, development, and prosperity essential to ensuring healthy living conditions for all Cubans and their interaction with a world of which they are an integral part.

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[1] Full Professor, Center for Management Techniques Studies (CETED), University of Havana. Presentation at the meeting “Cuban Experiences in the Management of COVID-19,” organized by CLACSO and the Cuban Embassy in Argentina on August 12. See: https://www.clacso.org/experiencias-cubanas-en-la-gestion-de-la-covid-19/

[2] Since the beginning of the pandemic, Cuba has provided an approach based on the defense of human rights – first and foremost the right to health and life – collaboration and solidarity, which is aligned with the treatment of human crisis given by the UN Secretary-General.
[3] In the nineties, during the special period, one of the instructions of President Fidel Castro Ruz was to create a working group that would bring together the experiences that the country had accumulated in all spheres to face that crisis that arose from the collapse of Cuba's international economic relations and the consequent collapse of its economy, in an environment of the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States.
[4] Law 41/1983 on Public Health; Decree 139/1988 Regulations of the Public Health Law; Law 75/1994 on National Defense; Ministerial Resolution No. 441/1994; Program for the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections, 1996; Decree-Law 170/1997, on the System of Civil Defense Measures; National Program for International Health Control, 1998; Directive 1/2010 for Disaster Reduction; Cholera Prevention and Response Plan, 2010; Resolution 171/2011 on the evaluation, certification, pricing, accounting, financing, and control of disaster losses; Vector Control and Dengue Prevention Plan of 2011; Comprehensive Program for the prevention and control of acute respiratory infections (ARI), 2013; Decree-Law 192/2014 On the Financial Administration of the State, New regulations of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba for international health control, 2016, among others.
[5] Training is provided through courses and postgraduate programs for managers at all levels, including a specific module in the National Defense College's Diploma program for Party and State officials. Furthermore, the training of Comprehensive General Practitioners (MGI) incorporates the course "Disaster Medicine," as noted by Bello B. (2011) in "Disaster medicine, its inclusion in the training program of the comprehensive general practitioner in Cuba." Panorama Cuba Salud. 2011; 6 (2–3):26–31.
[6] The Code of Ethics for Cuban State Cadres, approved by Agreement No. 3050/1996 of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers, defines the standards of conduct that must govern their life and performance.
[7] Speech delivered at the closing of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Students, held at the National Capitol, June 8, 1961
[8] Buenos Aires Action Plan (PABA) for South-South Cooperation and PABA+40 and the Sustainable Development Goals, among others.
[9] Proposal by Argentine President Alberto Fernández at the G-20 emergency virtual summit on the fight against the pandemic, March 25, 2020
[10] The academics selected as experts are: Luis Velázquez Pérez, President of the Cuban Academy of Sciences; Pedro Mas Bermejo, Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK); Luis Herrera Martínez, BioCubaFarma Group; Luis Carlos Silva Aycaguer, Ministry of Public Health; Guadalupe Guzmán Tirado, IPK; Rafael Bello Pérez, Central University of Las Villas Martha Abreu; and Jorge Núñez Jover, University of Havana. Academician Tania Crombet Ramos, from the Center for Molecular Immunology, was chosen to participate in the Advisory Group for the global response to COVID-19. https://www.cubaenresumen.org/2020/07/academicos-cubanos-integraran-equipo-internacional-de-expertos-sobre-covid-19/
[11] According to the Memorandum from Assistant Under Secretary of State Lester Mallory to Assistant Secretary of State Rubottom, dated April 6, 1960, the objective of U.S. policy is to “deprive Cuba of money and supplies, to reduce its financial resources and real wages, to provoke hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the government.”. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499.
[12] That they continue the series titled Health and disasters: Cuban experiences which contains the scientific production of Cuban authors on the subject.
[13] As of July, 57548 remote workers were reported, 42,382 of whom were on-site workers. older adults or those suffering from certain pathologies who were paid 100% of the basic salary for the first month and 60% thereafter. They are found pending job relocation 53573 interrupted workers. https://www.minjus.gob.cu/es/noticias/la-ministra-del-trabajo-y-seguridad-social-y-el-viceministro-de-finanzas-y-precios-informan

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