La Jornada editorial on Oct 4, 2022, from Mexico City
Last week, Hurricane Ian’s passage through the Caribbean left Cuba with deaths and enormous material destruction in the island’s infrastructure and agriculture, as well as the displacement of tens of thousands of victims; in addition, it caused the generalized collapse of the electrical system, which has been reestablishing itself with an agonizing and exasperating slowness.
To date, a large part of the population is still involved in the removal of vegetation and debris and in clearing the affected roads.
Among the scarce international aid received by the Caribbean nation, mention should be made of that of our country, which sent crews from the Federal Electricity Commission and electrical material to collaborate in the restoration of the energy network, as well as that of Argentina, which sent supplies for the purification of water, and small quantities of food and medicines sent by Cubans living abroad. It should be recalled that the conditions of the Cuban electric power system were already critical as a result of the fire that consumed one of the main fuel deposits on the island, located in Matanzas, a disaster that caused almost two dozen deaths and provoked an acute shortage of the main input for Cuban thermoelectric plants.
According to press reports, the Havana government has requested assistance from Washington, which was evaluating the situation, although the only firm information on the matter is that an exchange of information has taken place between the two countries.
The persistent lack of electricity, which makes the situation even more painful in several provinces of the island, has provoked protests of varying magnitude.
In such circumstances, the most radical sectors of the Cuban community in the United States, represented by the extremist legislators Marco Rubio and María Elvira Salazar, have sought to take advantage of the tragedy experienced by their country of origin to destabilize it and blame the national authorities for what has happened.
Such politicians have not only asked the White House to oppose sending aid to Cuba, but have also sought to stir up citizen unrest in order to provoke an insurrection.
In this context, the government of Joe Biden must suspend the blockade that the United States has maintained against the Caribbean nation for six decades in order to alleviate the extremely harsh conditions in which the island has begun the reconstruction work.
It is also necessary that Latin American governments coordinate through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States extraordinary actions to come to the support of a brotherly people that has not hesitated to assist other countries in emergency situations and that today, in the most unfavorable circumstances, remains indomitable.
Source: REDH – Cuba, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – US