DSA Co-Chair Defends Castro Praise, Cites Cuba Healthcare Expansion

Democratic Socialists of America Co-Chair Ashik Siddique defended the organization's praise for Fidel Castro on Wednesday's broadcast of "CNN News Central."

Siddique stated that "Many people, especially younger Americans, now, are looking at the history of what happened in Cuba and what it was like before Castro." He asserted that Castro expanded healthcare in Cuba. Co-host Boris Sanchez questioned Siddique about the DSA's praise for Castro from the previous week. Siddique also conveyed that voters desire taxpayer dollars to be used on things like raising a living wage, in addition to Medicare for All and universal childcare.

In related coverage, Vox reported in January that many Cubans have experienced near-constant darkness due to the Trump administration’s oil blockades, which have led to a worsening energy crisis and the collapse of Cuba's nationalized, universal healthcare system. Reason magazine recently featured comedian Shane Gillis stating, "Free healthcare is cool," on "The Joe Rogan Experience," with Rogan adding, "If you had a community, would you want the sickest person to fucking die who could be very valuable if y." PitchBook also found that the projected healthcare services deal count is expected to be the lowest since 2017.