Industry Development Quotes
Shortly after the Cuban revolution, the U. S. placed an embargo on the Fidel Castro regime. Medicine was one of the critical items that hurt Cuba the most. However, the Cubans, facing the problem of inability to import any U. S. patented medicinals, moved to a two pronged approach to health care. First since the could not get the medicines for the ill people, the places an enormous emphasis on preventive medicine which U. S. medical experts have always advocated, but America has been slow to implement. The second effort was to create their own drug research and manufacturing industry. They were amazingly successful at both even as the rest of the communist regime was crumbling. At the time of this quotation, Cubans had a HIGHER average lifespan than Americans, and the Cuban drug industry had become the 3rd largest in Cuba earning hard currency for the country. The had over 200 international patents on medicines and were selling to 57 countries.
In 1701 exports of wool accounted for ¼ of all exports. By 1770, it was almost 1/3.