Evo Morales, the new "headache"

Evo Morales, the President-elect of Bolivia, just finished a visit to Cuba. AP, describing the visit, "informs" its readers that "The 79-year-old Castro has been one of the U.S. government's biggest headaches in the region during his 47 years in power." "Headache"? Aside from some immigrants (whose yearly numbers are less than those arriving from Mexico in a week), Cuba has never "done anything" to the United States. By contrast, the U.S. government has been just a bit more than a headache to Cuba, more like a near-fatal disease.

If there is any reason why Cuba should be a "headache" to the U.S., perhaps Morales' visit provides a clue. Most news coverage of the event, like this one from the Los Angeles Times, just mention the visit (and the "headache"). The longer AP article mentions that "Cuba will now offer up to 5,000 scholarships annually to Bolivian college students," which is 5,000 more than the U.S. will be offering (or has offered cumulatively in the entire history of the country). But only a single U.S. source that I can find, CNN International, offers these more extensive details:

During the visit, the two men announced a 30-month plan to erase illiteracy in the South American nation as Cuba moves to increase hemispheric cooperation without U.S. influence.

Cuba also agreed to offer free eye operations to up to 50,000 needy Bolivians with vision problems, as well as 5,000 full scholarships for young Bolivians to study medicine on the island.

Millions of Bolivians able to read, and tens of thousands more with improved vision, just might finally be able to see the true nature of imperialism. And that is definitely enough to give the U.S. ruling class a headache.