There is something very bad going on in Cuba.
First, we hear of health care but:
"Officers of the Ministry of Education (MINED), Central Region, at a government meeting on Monday the 11th, suspended the Schools in the Countryside program for November and December, because of the complicated epidemiological situation in the province.
Guilfredo Martin Betancourt, a MINED official, said the province is experiencing cases of cholera and dengue fever, without giving specifics with regards to numbers, given the environmental and social indiscipline problems."
Second, we hear that 1,000,000 homes in Cuba do not have running water. This one is a real shock to any Cuban who remembers pre-Castro Cuba. We had a lot of problems in pre-Castro but running water was not one of them.
Let's file these two under "What Michael Moore missed when he went to Cuba".
We hear of reforms and reforms but the island's ballplayers would rather play under "yankee imperialismo". It's amazing because these are young men who grew up in Castro's Cuba and learned that "playing ball for money" was a capitalist sin.
We just learned that more Cuban players have "sinned" and left that workers' paradise that so many of our college professors love so much.
Here is the story:
"Erisbel Arruebarruena, Cuba's starting shortstop in the WBC, and reliever Raicel Iglesias are said to be training in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, respectively, according to the Spanish daily El Nuevo Herald in Miami.
Both players are seeking to establish residency in those countries so they can apply for free agency and negotiate with MLB teams.
In late October, their WBC teammate Jose Dariel Abreu signed a six-year, $68 million deal with the Chicago White Sox, the largest contract ever given a Cuban defector.
Also in October, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero for four years and $28 million.
Arruebarruena and Iglesias, both 23, are not expected to command those types of figures, but they have drawn interest from big-league clubs."
Some major league team is going to get a nice shortstop and bullpen help.
More importantly, two more Cubans have voted with their feet and told the world what they think of the island's reforms.
P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.
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