Cuba refuses America’s hurricane help
CUBA has turned down offers from the United States of assistance to rebuild their nation in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, in a sign that the relationship between the two countries remains frustratingly frosty.
Several US-based charities have said the Cuban government is refusing to let them fly in aid, while the US government’s international development department, USAID, told
that they have relief to Cuba.
“We have not received a request from the government of Cuba for assistance,” said a spokesman for USAID.
By contrast, the US has been highly active in Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas since Hurricane Matthew devastated not sent any swathes of the Caribbean on October 4. Almost 1,000 people were killed or injured in Haiti and 1.4 million left in need of aid.
Baracoa, the oldest town was ripped apart.
Wildy Bernot Rodriguez, who runs the Canacuba B&B, told
“It looks like a battlefield. We’ve gone back in time 100 years.”
“We have to fight for food,” said Sara Maceo, 57, whose house was destroyed. “We are waiting for aid.”
That there were no fatalities is due to the efforts of the Cuban authorities, who had worked hard to evacuate 1.3 million people from as much of the high-risk areas as possible.
But winds of 140mph and 16-foot waves meant 90 per cent of the buildings in the town were damaged.
Yet teams from Baltimore and Miami in Cuba, have found themselves unable to get into the country to help. “The problem is the Cuban government is not allowing relief to come in from the US,” said the Rev Jose Espino, a priest in Miami, who is helping coordinate Archdiocese of Miami’s relief efforts. He said donations of canned food, rice and beans had been dispatched to Haiti, but none of the supplies has gone out to Cuba.
He told that colleagues in in Cuba have the church been helping, accepting money from the US and buying food and supplies. But the situation was not ideal.
The US has for several years dedicated funds to helping democratic and “good governance” organisations. But the Cubans do not want aid.
Fidel Castro, now 90, stated after President Barack Obama’s historic March visit: “We don’t need the empire to give us anything.”
Mr Obama last week announced permission for Americans to bring home unlimited amounts of rum and cigars; US flights regularly cross from Florida to Cuba and tourist numbers have soared.
Yet last week the foreign minister, Josefina Vidal, led protests against the US embargo – something Mr Obama wants to lift, but only Congress can scrap.