If Cuba has calibrated something well, in accordance with the principles that have moved our Revolution for 60 years, it is that all actions thave been consistent with our human perspective, the nation’s spirit.
Nothing, beyond a humanist vocation – the conviction that homeland is humanity, as Martí understood it – better explains the solidarity this island constantly offers the world, today clearly expressed in Cuba’s response to the emergencies generated by the pandemic crisis, which, in and of themselves, should silence the mercenary uproar that attempts to discredit the effort, labeling it opportunistic.
Cuba offers to share what we have. And, of course, shares more of what we most have: knowledge, professionalism, technical skill, all the intelligence nurtured that, in combination with the human values of our people, elevates Cuban cooperation to the level of noble altruism. Nonetheless, material goods, that are scarce here, are also shared. Our doctors do not travel to risk their lives, to battle COVID, without taking some supplies, medications, and basic logistical provisions that allow them to offer the most complete aid possible where they are needed.
But Cuba understands the human concept well, since it is practiced here. We naturally accept any similar gesture we are offered, be it help or assistance, of collective benefit or a specific nature, because cooperation, if it is disinterested, devoid of manipulative or subversive appendages, promotes only brotherhood between peoples, which is after all an aspiration, per se, of socialism.
Just as Cuba is ready and willing to offer help, we gratefully receive the most diverse expressions of solidarity, which, in terms of material resources, arrive without problem from many different parts of the world. The country facilitates the process to ensure that donations reach their destination as expeditiously as possible.
International cooperation is highly valued as one of the basic premises of the country’s foreign policy, and is incorporated in economic development plans. Regardless of its scope, such support is recognized as a source of resources and an opportunity to obtain funding from abroad to complement national efforts.
Data provided by Magalys Estrada, general director for cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment (Mincex), indicate that assistance valued at 1.36 billion pesos in convertible currencies has been received since 2012 to date, and over the last four years, donations with an average annual worth of 200 million have reached the island.
“Assistance to Cuba’s public and private sectors, provided legally, in the manner established by Mincex, has come from the most varied foreign entities: governments, institutions, NGOs, social sector organizations, bilateral, multilateral and private agencies,” she explained.
“Moreover, with the goal of expediting their handling amidst the COVID-19 battle, a specific procedure was approved to manage everything that arrives this way,” he added.
In this context - aggravated by the deliberate closing of doors to Cuba by the United States government, via the economic, commercial, and financial blockade – our country is among the grateful that give and receive the benefit of international cooperation, with 274 donations arriving valued at 28 million pesos, Magalys Estrada reported.
TRANSPARENCY & FACILITATION
Cuba’s experience provides innumerable examples testifying to the transparency that has traditionally accompanied this process, with no distinctions that favor one type of assistance or another, regardless of the amount donated or benefits provided.
Nacyra Gómez Cruz, ecumenical leader of the Varadero Presbyterian Church, speaking with Granma, confirmed the irreproachable, expeditious functioning of procedures involved in the delivery of donations to their destination.
Based on her observations over several years as a member of the distribution coordinating committee for donations from the U.S. organization Pastors for Peace, Gómez described the guarantees and security that always accompanied national handling of the resources that arrived from the United States, in line with the purposes of the assistance which, she said, “was distributed, without any sort of obstacle, to vulnerable persons, such as those with disabilities, children without family support, cancer patients, residents of nursing homes, that is persons who have the well-known support of the state, but who appreciate the human impact of the logistical aid provided by material help.
“No state institution has intervened in a self-interested manner in the distribution of these resources, or ever charged a cent in taxes or tariffs for these deliveries, which naturally arrive along with commercial merchandise.
“In fact, the only state interests that have participated in these processes are those which have facilitated the distribution, or responded to our requests for help in developing lists of those with needs, who could later receive a donation.
“Nor has the right of donors to make choices regarding the destination of their assistance ever been ignored, and some type of verification is always provided documenting the status of the distribution and the final delivery to beneficiaries.
“Because of this, when it was reported that the United States was imposing a heavy fine on Pastors for Peace, many beneficiaries sent letters testifying to the delivery’s complete transparency, with no charges, full security and guarantees that the goods reached precisely those to whom they were directed and not the ‘coffers of the regime,’ as they always assert.”
THE CIRCUS
Like a new chapter in a long soap opera, with the script of a bad plot constantly recycled, the same characters in the mercenary anti-Cuba cast have taken their circus show to the donations environment, after fabricating, in what they assert as good faith, an alleged delivery of significant size that has been turned away, using this smoke screen to amplify their chatter accusing our government of whatever improper action they have been directed to repeat.
This little campaign, as always, attracts a few ingenious believers overwhelmed by the alleged infamy, who don’t notice the devious nature of “spontaneous gestures of solidarity” by those who line up, one after another, to promote efforts to asphyxiate the same people they allegedly intend to help.
Such fleeting endeavors have nothing in common with donations legally processed and received, from many U.S. entities to their Cuban counterparts, be they churches of different denominations, organizations, cultural centers, health institutes, sports groups, environmentalists, or homes for older adults.
Thinking rationally and logically, it is obvious that Cuba does not depend on what it receives in goodwill, but in line with our ethical standards, we appreciate and facilitate donations, providing various legal channels that allow any offer of international assistance to be concretized.
This year, 2020, speaks for itself, with the most significant donations arriving from the United Nations system of organizations, China, the European Union, Vietnam, France, Japan, and Spain, although, since January, Mincex has handled more than 400 deliveries of aid from 27 nations and eight cooperation agencies, in addition to help provided individuals involving material goods and cash.
The appearance of this other type of assistance promoted by the diversionist show makers, working the theme now, comes as no surprise.
“Anyone who has really wanted to send help to the Cuban people has always been able to do so,” stated Johana Tablada, deputy director for the United States at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, recalling, at the same time, exactly who promotes such offensive campaigns against Cuba, “The United States government promotes assistance as an instrument of coercion, crudely using it with motives far from humanist and far removed from the real needs of each country.”
Nothing new. U.S. policy has always been one of convenience. They finance, loan or sell on the basis of political conditions, reaching despicable extremes by denying Cuba respirators needed to treat COVID patients, while those of their own, with nothing to offer in exchange, die by the thousands.
How can anyone believe the histrionics of known Cuba-haters, with no moral authority to question the humanist vocation that sustains the solidarity offered by a country, which, despite the scarcity caused by the blockade and the health emergency, re-invents itself every day to protect the lives of our people and answer the calls of thousands around the world in need of help?
