In Cuba, Hurricanes Force Raul Castro's Hand
New America Media, News Report, Louis E.V. Nevaer, Posted: Oct 15, 2008
Editor’s note: Cuba has suddenly changed its mind and agreed to accept foreign aid as it faces mass starvation and broken infrastructure due to hurricanes Gustav and Ike, reports NAM contributor Louis E.V. Nevaer. Nevaer is the author of NAFTA’S Second Decade: Assessing Opportunities in the Mexican and Canadian Markets.
In a stunning about-face, Cuba's president Raul Castro has agreed to accept foreign aid to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
Six weeks after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike ravaged the island nation, efforts to prevent famine in isolated communities are forcing rapid-fire political changes. For more than a month, Mexico, Russia and Venezuela have been sending aid; now 68 other countries have joined the humanitarian effort, as well as 12 international agencies. Raul Castro had, up to now, refused the aid, arguing that spies disguised as humanitarian workers would infiltrate Cuba. That concern, in the wake of human suffering, has been cast aside; the $51 million USD in aid is desperately needed, particularly in Pinar del Rio and the city of Cinefuegos.
This comes two days after Cuba's ambassador to Mexico, Manuel Aguilera de la Paz, acknowledged there were food shortages throughout the island nation, although he was adamant that there would not be famine.
As reports in Mexico, Spain and on Cuba-based blogs continue to document the deteriorating situation on the island nation, Cuba's ambassador was forced to make public statements in Mexico City.
Ambassador Aguilera de la Paz conceded there were "limitations" that required "reductions in the diet" of the Cuban people, and "widespread shortages of some foodstuffs," but he denied there was famine or the possibility of famine. The ambassador assured reporters that in Cuba there was "an egalitarian distribution system for food that guaranteed that everyone has access to the minimum food to allow for subsistence and survival.”
Concerns, however, surfaced that supplies are running low, and that Cuba is preparing the Cuban people for "a difficult winter." Mexican and Venezuelan humanitarian assistance continues to flow into Havana, but reports indicate that damage to infrastructure has resulted in the inability to reach isolated communities, where stories of scarcity and hunger continue to be reported.
As Cuba and Haiti struggle with the human misery left behind by hurricanes Gustav and Ike, Mexican Navy ships have been sent to both countries with humanitarian aid. The Mexican Navy vessel, Papaloapan, left Veracruz port bound first for Havana with food, medicine and other supplies, before continuing to Port au Prince, the Haitian capital.
The Papaloapan is equipped with a working hospital, and it will provide medical assistance to Haiti as needed.
In the five weeks since Cuba and Haiti were struck by these hurricanes, damage to each country's infrastructure was so extensive that distribution and communication to smaller communities remains difficult, if not impossible. Despite reassurances from Cuban diplomats in Mexico City, reports of hunger in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio continue to make their way to the outside world: Food prices have risen in Havana between 50 and 100%, rationing has been decreed by the government, and Cubans have been warned to prepare for a difficult winter.
Reports of famine were substantiated by Cubans intercepted by the Mexican Navy attempting to cross the Yucatan Channel from Pinar del Rio to the resorts of Isla Mujeres and Cancun.
The Mexican Navy has long feared that an uncontrolled exodus of Cubans across the Yucatan Channel would precipitate a crisis similar to what occurred in 1997 when thousands of Albanians crossed the Adriatic Sea and the Italian Navy had to rescue hundreds of refugees.
In 2007 more than 11,000 Cubans illegally entered Mexico, almost all seeking to make it to the U.S. border and seek political asylum. This exodus has been fueled by human traffickers who operate safe houses in the Mexican resorts of Cancun and Isla Mujeres. "The reason why people are willing to risk their lives to leave Cuba [by attempting to reach Mexico] is the lack of hope and expectations," Sean Murphy, the United States consul general in Havana, told the New York Times, in October 2007.
This exodus has increased dramatically since Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, forcing two major political changes. First, Cuba and Mexico announced last week a new migratory deal. Whereas before Mexican policy was to detain Cubans illegally in Mexico, fine them for not having proper tourist documents (the fine was about $80 USD), and giving them 30 days to leave Mexico (which many did by hopping on a bus to the U.S.-Mexico border, then crossing into the U.S. to seek political asylum); Mexico has now agreed that Cubans detained for entering Mexico illegally will be returned to Cuba. This is an effort to stop the explosion of Cubans illegally entering Mexico as a way of reaching the U.S.
The purpose is to deter Cubans from risking their lives crossing the Yucatan Channel if they know they are likely to be returned to Cuba if caught, and to interfere with the thriving business of smuggling Cubans. (Cuba has long complained that the "Miami Mafia" is operating human trafficking operations from the Mexican resorts of Cancun and Isla Mujeres.) This past spring and summer 9 Cubans in Merida and Cancun were found shot : law enforcement linked the victims with groups of smugglers who were operating safe houses for Cubans crossing the Yucatan Channel.
In 2007, about 11,000 Cubans entered the U.S. from Mexico; this year the figures are expected to be 19,000 Cubans.
Mexican officials want to avoid loss of life on the high seas, as occurred in April when a raft with twelve Cubans drifted into the Gulf of Mexico. Two died, 2 were lost at sea and 8 survivors were airlifted to a hospital near New Orleans after being rescued by the crew of the tanker Eos.
The second development on the diplomatic front occurred this weekend when Cuba and the European Union announced plans to normalize diplomatic relations, which were severed in June 2003 when the EU sought to punish Cuba for the arrest of political dissidents. The diplomatic rapprochement is crucial to facilitating humanitarian aid to Cubans.
There is a sense of urgency as government officials in Mexico City-Havana-Madrid work to reach political agreement to help Cuba in the weeks ahead, the specter of severe food shortages this fall and winter are now accompanied by the threat of disease. to prevent the shortage of food to be compounded by disease, Dengue Fever.
The disease, spread by mosquitoes, is now spreading throughout the ravaged provinces of Cienfuegos and Pinar del Rio. "We are going to develop in the next days of October a campaign through the CDR [neighborhood Committees for the Defense of the Revolution] throughout the entire country, a health campaign against the conditions that allow the spread of Aedes aegypti [Dengue Fever]," Luis Estruch, the Vice-Minister of Health told reporters this weekend.
There are no guarantees that these political efforts – $51 million in aid are expected to reach only 135,000 Cuban – will be enough. And while the new migratory agreement is an attempt to stop human trafficking across the Yucatan Channel by discouraging Cubans to risk their lives, there is hope that once Cuban officials meet with EU diplomats in Madrid today and then in Paris on Thursday more rapid assistance will be forthcoming. In a measure of the sense of urgency, Spain announced Tuesday, October 14, the emergency release of $40 million USD for reconstruction work. Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced he would travel to Cuba in early 2009 to assess the situation.
What this means for Raul Castro's administration is unclear, since the political consequences of this humanitarian crisis in Cuba remains a great unknown.
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User Comments
Ransome on Oct 16, 2008 at 20:20:48 said:
We have relationships with China, North Korea, and Vietnam, communist countries that have killed and maimed over 300,000 Americans. In the Korean War, 35,000 Americans were killed and a 103,000 injured. In the Vietnam War, 47,000 were killed and 153, 000 injured. We slavishly trade with China and Vietnam and give food to North Korea.
However, we maintain a debilitating trade embargo against Cuba. How many Americans have Cubans harmed, none. All because the Republicans want the vote of the old, diehard Cubans Castro-haters in South Florida.
In a democratic society, elections select those who make the decisions. Winning elections require voters and money. The need for crucial votes or election money can cause politicians to act in an inimical and contradictory manner that is not in the national self-interest. For a few votes in a swing state, we are treating the Cubans who successfully reach American shores better than all the other illegal immigrants while using the Cuban blockade to perform malicious acts on the Cuban people that stay. It is time that we immediately halt the Cuban blockade and repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Anon. on Oct 16, 2008 at 17:32:25 said:
Walter Lippmann on Oct 13, 2008 at 20:37:20 said: This entire commentary is false.
Thank you so much Mr. Lippmann. We have allowed people to get away with these kinds of lies for FAR too long. I am certain that most Americans would rather believe the lie, since they would have to face what they have done if they accept the truth. However, those of us who know the truth appreciate the time it took for you to answer this outrageous article. Thank you again.
Louis Nevaer on Oct 15, 2008 at 09:27:44 said:
As the writer of this story, I would like to remind readers that it helps to click-through to the original newspaper stories that substantiate the situation in Cuba. This morning, for instance, Spain announced it was studying an emergency aid package in the amount of $400 million Euros (about $550 million USD) as the true dimension of the situation in Cuba becomes clear. Cuban chancellor Roberto Pérez Roque is in Madrid today, traveling to Paris tomorrow to get EU support. Any country can suffer from a crisis, and there is no shame in having challenges from a natural disaster. It is better when humanity comes together to help each other out. This is why Cuban authorities in Mexico and Europe are working to help people in Cuba who are victims of natural disasters. This isn't about ideology, it is about helping hurricane victims. Here is the link to today\'s EL PAIS in Spain:
elpais.com/articulo/espana/Espana/estudia/plan/apoyo/Cuba/400/millones/elpepiesp/20081015elpepinac_4/Tes
Walter Lippmann on Oct 13, 2008 at 20:37:20 said:
This entire commentary is false.
-->There is no humanitarian crisis in Cuba. And Cuba has been accepting humanitarian aid from the first days after the hurricanes. Countries as big as China and as small as Grenada have been providing humanitarian assistance from the beginning.
Cuba refused to accept an offer of "aid" from the United States while the United States continued trying to destroy the Cuban society through a blockade.
Yes, more than a few Cubans want to leave the country, in hopes of finding a better life in the United States. Unlike the citizens of any other country on earth, Cubans have a big advantage. Under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, any Cuban who lands in the United States is AUTOMATICALLY PERMITTED TO REMAIN, and they're then on a fast track to citizenship as well.
Here is a statement issued by the Cuban national assembly TODAY explaining the issues:
Declaration by the National Assembly of People’s Power (Cuban Parliament)
HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 13 (acn) The National Assembly of the Peoples’ Power (Cuban Parliament) issued a declaration calling on parliamentarians throughout the world to urge the US Congress and the government of the United States to unconditionally lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba and to respect the legitimate and sovereign right of the Cuban people to build their own destiny. ACN brings you the full text of the declaration:
.
DECLARATION
On October 29, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly will discuss and put to the vote the draft resolution “Necessity to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”.
For 16 consecutive years, the very General Assembly has approved similar resolutions by a growing and overwhelming majority. The last of these, which was voted on October 30, 2007, was supported by 184 countries.
However, as was irrefutably demonstrated in the report presented by Cuba to the General Assembly on the resolution that was adopted last year, the government of the United States, with its customary arrogance, has ignored the express mandate of the international community and, far from ending that genocidal policy, is intensifying it in an attempt to kill our people by hunger and diseases.
In the course of last year, the main targets of the blockade have been maintained and reinforced, which was evidenced by the systematic persecution and application of sanctions against companies and financial institutions that have or could have business with Cuba, while organizing or increasing subversive operations which, by virtue of the Bush Plan, pursue the goal of overthrowing the legitimate constitutional order that has been established and endorsed by the Cuban people and initiating the re-colonization of our country.
As the international community knows full well, Cuba has suffered recently from the destructive swathe cut by hurricanes Ike and Gustav. According to unofficial figures, losses are estimated at more than five billion dollars, which basically focus in highly sensitive areas for the population such as housing, agriculture, energy and the infrastructure.
The Cuban government, along with the determined and selfless efforts of the vast majority of our people, is deploying all its energy so that, in the shortest time possible, we may recover from the damages inflicted, look after the enormous needs of Cuban families, construct or reconstruct tens of thousands of houses and increase the production of foodstuffs. All of this should be done amidst the difficult conditions facing the world today, which is plunged in a financial crisis of unforeseeable effects for the entire planet.
In that titanic battle we are waging, we have experienced the solidarity of many governments and peoples throughout the world who, through magnificent gestures, have sent contributions of donations and help of inestimable moral and material value, in spite of some of their own shortages. The Cuban people, the exceptional protagonist of the systematic practice of solidarity, understand in their entire dimension and convey its appreciation for these unselfish acts
However, we cannot say the same about the government of the United States. First, they offered the presumed aid of one hundred thousand dollars accompanied by in situ inspection of the damages caused by both hurricanes. The only answer we could give was that of not accepting any commission to evaluate damages, since our experience accumulated during all these years has enabled us to rigorously and objectively evaluate the ravages of this kind of meteorological phenomena.
As a matter of principle, Cuba could not accept either any presumed aid from the government that has perpetuated the criminal blockade that has lasted almost 50 years.
Cuba did not ask for help from anyone, much less the United States. Cuba did ask the government of that country to allow Cuba to buy from American companies, under the same conditions in which these companies sell to the world market, the resources needed for the reconstruction of the country. Many were the voices in the United States, including those of presidential candidates, Democrat and Republican members of Congress, influential newspapers, NGOs and humanitarian organizations, that asked the American administration not just to lift the blockade, but something much simpler: to relax for a few months its Draconian measures, including the travel ban on Cubans living in that country and the ban on remittances to their relatives in Cuba, something that, in their opinion, could have an impact on the assistance to the Cuban people.
Meanwhile, the government of the United States reiterated that under no circumstances would it relax the application of its criminal policy. There is no more eloquent example of the true objective of the blockade: the attempt to destroy the Revolution by causing “hunger and despair” and undermine the support of the people, as recognized by that government on April 6, 1960. That policy, which clearly classifies for the international crime of genocide, will soon observe half a century of existence.
In the face of the stubbornness and arrogance of the United States government, Cuba will continue forward. Fifty years of aggressions and economic war inflicted by the greatest power known to history will never crush the will of our people. In the arduous circumstances that we struggle today, we shall continue working for the country's recovery so that we may conquer, as Martí wished, all the justice.
The National Assembly of the Peoples’ Power of the Republic of Cuba calls on parliamentarians throughout the world to demand from the Congress and the government of the United States to unconditionally lift its genocidal blockade and respect the legitimate and sovereign right of the Cuban people to build their own destiny.
Havana, October 13, 2008.