WikiLeaks Embassy cables reveal Venezuela's healthcare system collapsing

[naaman fletcher]

David Paulin: Some of Venezuela's public hospitals are closing. Others are ridden with crime. Many physicians are quitting medicine -- starting new careers in Venezuela or emigrating, upset at being paid a pittance or not at all. Medical supplies are in short supply.

A "confidential" US Embassy cable from Caracas, just released by WikiLeaks, says socialist Venezuela's health care system is in "disarray" -- and the poor are suffering the most. The document appears to be authentic. However, US officials have flatly refused to confirm the authenticity of any purloined documents published by WikiLeaks.

The Embassy cable released in December 2009 blames Venezuela's ongoing health care crisis squarely on President Hugo Chavez -- his Cuban-style health care initiatives and overall mismanagement and his politicization of the South American nation's health care system. Physicians perceived as being anti-Chavez are disciplined, while incompetent military officials are placed in charge of public hospitals.

Looking ahead, the 1,900-word document warns that Chavez may create more havoc by nationalizing Venezuela's private clinics. These provide high-quality US-style health care, something I experienced first-hand at the private Clínica de Caracas when I went there for routine care and for some stitches to my forehead after an accident at a local gym. I was a Caracas-based journalist for much of the 1990s, leaving Venezuela in 2000 to go to CNN in Atlanta.

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