In a brief story in The Tribune of Thursday, October 4, 2007, the Cuban Government has once again offered scholarships to study medicine in Cuba.

Apparently 15 students can go and they should be ready to travel by November 15, 2007.

As anyone that reads this blog knows, the Cuban government is an anathema to me so it will come as no surprise that I caution Bahamian’s not to go if for no other reason than the ‘TANSTAAFL principle’.

The TANSTAAFL principle is:

“The fundamental principle on which this strategy is built may be expressed in a simple slogan—There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, the “TANSTAAFL principle,” for short. The TANSTAAFL principle is closely related to the fundamental theorem of ecological economics, that everything depends on everything else. Everything worthwhile has a cost. Whenever you think you are getting something for nothing, look again—someone, somewhere, somehow is paying for it. Behind every free lunch there is a hidden cost to be accounted for.” More…

One can be assured that Cuba is not attempting to provide scholarships to people in free countries out of the goodness of their hearts.

What do you think the reason could be?