The container is valued at 40,000 euros and another 63,000 euros has already been raised of a total of 70,000 that will pay for another shipment
14ymedio, Havana, 31 May 2024 — The French association CubaCoop loaded a container this Wednesday with 10.4 tons of powdered milk valued at 40,000 euros destined for the Island to support the feeding of children and vulnerable sectors.
The cargo is expected to arrive at the port of Mariel at the end of June after being shipped from the French port of Le Havre by the association, based in Ivry-sur-Seine, outside Paris.
“It’s done! The first container was loaded on May 29,” said Víctor Fernández, president of CubaCoop in information published on his own website in which an ongoing collection for a new shipment of food assistance is also announced. Of the 70,000 euros needed, the association has already raised 63,000.
Of the 70,000 euros needed, the association has already raised 63,000 for a second shipment
This shipment, along with the one sent from Spain by the Alhucema Solidarity Initiatives Association in April, are part of the multiple donations that arrive on the Island in order to alleviate the food crisis caused by the shortage of milk, which forced the regime, in January, to request “urgent help” from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to “facilitate the shipment of powdered milk” to the Island.
CubaCoop explained that, once on the Island, the milk will be distributed “among priority sectors” such as hospitals, orphanages, medical and educational structures, as well as the most vulnerable population, such as children, single women and the elderly.
The sending of the solidarity cargo from France is part of the campaign launched by the organization last March to counteract what it considers “insufficient food production for the needs of the population, in addition to harsh deprivations in multiple areas, consequences of a criminal economic blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States.”
The organization considers that the lack of food is “a consequence of a criminal economic blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States
In an interview with Prensa Latina, Víctor Fernández expressed thanks for the donations made by citizens, local authorities, public and private companies, foundations, unions, political forces and solidarity associations.
After being informed of the shipment, the Cuban ambassador to France, Otto Vaillant, expressed thanks for the gesture in a post on social networks by the representation in that country of the Government headed by Miguel Díaz-Canel.
This Thursday, the Spanish Congress approved in a commission a Non-Law Proposition (PNL) presented by the Sumar coalition (left) to “contribute to overcoming the shortage of milk intended for children in Cuba.” The proposal urges the Government of Pedro Sánchez to allocate funds through the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (Aecid) “to reinforce food aid programs for Cuba.”
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