Page 25 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

A POR TR AIT OF CUBA  23

exhibitions, performing arts and even
dance evenings. Child care is an
important component of the nation’s
educational policy: the govern ment has
invested a great deal of effort and funds
in the younger generations and is
particularly keen on protecting children,
who are safeguarded from the exploita­
tion and sweatshop labour so common
in many Latin American and developing
countries. Children are well looked after Javier Sotomayor, the gold medallist in the high jump in the 1992
in Cuba: they have the right to attend Olympics in Barcelona
nursery schools and day­care centres
and to education, physical education which is free for everyone, is good despite
and recreational activities. All these restrictions imposed by the economic
services are free for everyone and crisis. The presence of highly­trained
generally of good quality. Cuban doctors and the reduced costs
of therapy and hospitalization have made
Health the island a centre for “health tourism”;
The achievements of the government patients from many countries come here
in the field of health have raised the for specific treatments, especially for skin
country to the level of the world’s most and stress problems.
industrialized nations. A great deal has
been invested in providing hospitals Sports
and medical consultants throughout Physical activity has always been
the island, in free medicine, and in encouraged by the government via
concentrating on prevention (the a mass physical education programme
nationwide vaccination of infants and and numerous specialist schools. As a
children has virtually eliminated diseases result, sports standards are high, and
common on the American continent) Cuba has many Olympic champions.
and medical research. Cuba has the Baseball is the national sport (the Cuban
lowest infant mortality rate and the team is one of the best in the world), and
second highest life­expectancy rate athletics, volleyball, basketball and boxing
in Latin America. The health service, are also popular. Leading figures in sport
include boxer Kid Chocolate
(1910–88), successful in the
US before the Revolution,
high­jump champion
Javier Sotomayor, Ana
Fidelia Quirot, the 800m
world champion in 1995
and 1997, Iván Pedroso,
gold medallist in long­
jump in Sydney 2000 and
Mijaín López Núñez, the
Olympic medalist who
won gold for Greco­Roman
wrestling in 2008, 2012
and 2016.
Boxing training in a Havana gym

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