Portside

The U.S. government is allowing tourists to bring home $100 worth of rum and cigars. And the U.S. State Department is working on a forthcoming list of products that Cubans can export to the United States. The list will not include numerous life-saving medicines currently unavailable in the United States, and not apparently because the U.S. government believes rum and cigars are better for its people than life-saving medicines. No, the reason is bizarre yet predictable.

When the Ebola global alarm was sounded by Doctors Without Borders, which, like Cuba, already had health professionals in Africa; Cuba was the country that offered the most assistance once WHO called for nations to step up with funds and, most importantly, human resources. Cuba sent 256 volunteers with significant international emergency experience while Cuba's Dr. Jorge Pérez and others work to prevent Ebola's global spread.