CARICOM looks to deliver aid package for Cuba

Nearly a year ago, Caribbean governments had promised to send an aid package to finance-starved Cuba, but complained about international sanctions and other hurdles that had prevented the region from making good on its pledge.

Now, says Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, the hurdles have finally been cleared and the region is in a better position to assist Cuba. Cuba and the 15-nation CARICOM grouping have enjoyed strong diplomatic relations since 1972, and such relations have morphed over the decades to include two-way trade and Cuban exports of thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to support sagging health sectors in the bloc.

It is not clear when the cash or material package would arrive, but the region had recently indicated that the money was for baby formula, non-perishable goods, beans, wheat flour, rice, canned food and hardware materials like solar power units, batteries and water tanks.

Officials had said that Mexican authorities would assist with the collaborative effort.

“When you live in a neighborhood, what happens in the neighborhood affects everyone, and the neighborhood stretches from Florida to Guyana and Suriname in the south,” Mottley stated. “We recognize that this is always going to be a complicated and complex issue, as was reflected in the United Nations debate on Tuesday, but we want to remain focused on the humanitarian efforts and we want to remain focused on the dialogue that should continue to take place.”

The announcement about an imminent aid package for Cuba came the same week that the region sent 88 containers of food, 300 large plastic water tanks, and other items to earthquake-hit Venezuela, where more than 3,000 people have died and many thousands more are missing. Neighboring Trinidad has also said that it is getting ready to send a shipment as well to Venezuela.

The prime minister said in one case the region had tried to send cash to procure baby formula and other essentials, but economic sanctions imposed by the US had stymied this effort as the financial system had rejected the transactions.

“The money that was sent back because of the sanctions, it is almost impossible to be able to deliver it, and we’ve had to go through circuitous routes with respect to dealing with countries who are willing to ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered to Cuba. Nobody is going to release the milk without payment, and because we are shipping it to Cuba, therefore the process goes through enhanced due diligence,” Mottley told reporters as this week’s regional leaders summit ended in St. Lucia. “There is a humanitarian crisis, and you cannot continue to ignore that reality. Humanitarian relief comes above everything else, because none of us can give back life to anybody.”