Cuba Makes Rare Request for U.S. Aid After Devastation From Hurricane Ian
By Vivian Salama and José de Córdoba, Sept. 30, 2022, WSJ
On other occasions when Cuba has suffered from hurricanes, the U.S. has offered humanitarian aid, but Cuba has turned it down. “Fidel’s position was that Cuba would not take charity from a country that had an economic blockade against it,” says Mr.
LeoGrande, referring to the late former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. “He did not want to justify the embargo.”
The Cuban request suggests that Russia, which has been a supporter of Cuba in past disasters, is in no shape to do so because of the war in Ukraine, Mr. LeoGrande said.
When a fire in August at the port of Matanzas destroyed much of Cuba’s most important fuel terminal, Russia, Mexico and Venezuela stepped in to help Havana. At the time, the U.S. offered technical assistance. Cuba said it was thankful of the offer, but
the U.S. said Cuba didn’t formally make any aid requests. The U.S. Agency for International Development ultimately provided the Cuban government with 43 sets of firefighting gear and is procuring additional gear to send.
Cuba’s economy is laboring through its roughest stretch in three decades. People stand in long lines for hours seeking scarce basic foods. Many medicines are difficult to find, while power outages are common and extend for more than 14 hours.
Aside from the Trump administration’s tightening of the U.S. trade embargo, Cuba’s once-thriving tourism industry was devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic and has yet to recover. Its economy has been hit hard by accelerating inflation as well as
economic mismanagement.
Cuba’s economic crisis worsened after the Matanzas fire destroyed much of the terminal and fuel storage tanks, dealing another blow to Cuba’s frail power grid.
The economic crisis and increased political repression has pushed tens of thousands of Cubans to migrate to the U.S. In the current fiscal year through the end of August, nearly 200,000 Cuban migrants have been detained by U.S. officials after crossing
the U.S.’s southern border.
After the islandwide blackout caused by Hurricane Ian, Cubans took to the streets in parts of Havana and elsewhere to protest the lack of power and to demand the resignation of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, according to videos shown on social media.
“Everybody is angry,” said Camilo Condis, a self-employed Havana electrical contractor. “The worst thing is food, which is so difficult to get, and it rots when the power is out.” Mr. Condis said he had no electric power or water pressure in his
house.
Cuba fears a repetition of an unprecedented wave of protests in July 2021 that shook the government when tens of thousands of Cubans took to the streets in dozens of towns and cities throughout the island demanding freedom and the resignation of Mr. Dí
az-Canel. The demonstrations were also sparked by extended blackouts and deteriorating economic conditions.
In the months following the protests, Cuba charged some 930 people with crimes linked to the demonstrations and imprisoned at least 675 people, some to terms as long as 25 years, according to Cubalex, a human rights organization which monitors the island.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuba-makes-rare-request-for-u-s-aid-after-devastation-from-hurricane-ian-11664581112
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)