My mother-in-law's cousin is currently on his way - somehow - from Cienfuegos to Havana to be appraised by a group of visiting surgeons from a US charity to see if they can do the hip operation he has spent years waiting (painfully) for. It's galling to hear the 'Oh, but they do have such a wonderful health and education system despite it all, don't they?' line so often parroted in Western liberal (and even not so liberal) circles, when the reality is so different.