Doctors not Bombs Needed for Humanity to Save Itself

By Raúl Antonio Capote on June 26, 2020

At a time when the world is hit by one of the most dangerous pandemics in human history, the United States is arming itself for war. It allocates millions of resources to this sector, over and above basic services such as health, in the country with the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the planet.

“With nearly three million troops in service, 4,800 defense sites on every continent, and an annual budget of more than $700 billion, the U.S. military is considered the world’s leading fighting force,” according to CNN.

In the midst of the crisis generated by the new coronavirus, Washington is rapidly modernizing its armed forces, including its nuclear forces. This was stated by President Donald Trump, through different means, including social networks.

The powerful nation is also rushing to find hypersonic weapons. On May 20, 2020, the White House chief announced the intention to spend whatever it takes, “Our goal is simply to dominate the battlefields of the future.”

He emphasized that his administration has spent more than $2.5 trillion updating the Army during his administration, more than, according to him, any other American President.

“We have weapons that I pray to God we will never have to use,” he boasted.

World military expenditures in 2019 experienced the largest increase in the last ten years, according to a report by the International Institute for Peace Studies (Sipri), published on April 27. The historical record is held by the United States, which increased by 5.3% in 2019, to 732 billion dollars, 38% of the world total.

At a time when the planet is facing an economic recession, governments should reconsider military spending and attend to other priority sectors that show their weakness in the face of the pandemic.

If the United States had invested 10% of its military spending in strengthening its public health system, it would not have to face the painful situation in which it finds itself today. No one could have imagined that in the first country in economic power the emergency rooms and the intensive care units would collapse, that their doctors and paramedics would not be enough, and there would be a lack of equipment, beds and medicines.

The experience of the pandemic exposes the short comings of the White House with regard to its own people, the lack of resources for sectors such as health and education, while it maintains enormous military expenditures and attacks Cuban health cooperation programs it has with other peoples of the world.

“Doctors and not bombs,” said Fidel, because that is what humanity needs to be saved. The United States goes around the world blind to that philosophy; one eye open to war, the other eye dedicated to pursuing those who, like Cuba, are going down the same routes, to save.

Source: Granma, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau