EFE/14ymedio, Havana,3 October 2022 — The Cuban Government confirmed on Monday that it has maintained contacts with the United States regarding the material damage suffered by Hurricane Ian last week.
Havana thus confirms a report recently released by The Wall Street Journal in which it was claimed that the Island had contacted the United States Government.
“Governments of Cuba and the United States have exchanged information about the substantial damage and unfortunate losses caused by Hurricane Ian in both countries,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said on the social network Twitter.
The brief message added that the Government of Cuba also maintains communication “with other governments interested in the devastation and requirements for the recovery in Cuba.”
The Wall Street Journal published this Friday an exclusive entitled “Cuba makes an unusual request for American help after the devastation by Hurricane Ian,” in which it explained that the Cuban government had requested “emergency assistance” from Washington, and the Biden Administration was in contact with the authorities on the Island to understand how much help was needed.
In recent days, assistance of various types has arrived in Cuba from Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina, as well as from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional subsidiary in the Americas.
From Mexico, a plane with more than 10 tons of electrical insulation landed in Havana on Monday, according to the official press, as part of the “more than 100 tons of solidarity aid” transported in “four planes of the Mexican Air Force, which made 16 flights, working uninterruptedly for 96 hours,” after the hurricane.
U.S. civil society collectives close to Cuba asked this Saturday, in an announcement in The New York Times, for the U.S. Government to temporarily lift sanctions on the Island to facilitate reconstruction after Ian’s passage.
Hurricane Ian crossed the western tip of Cuba from south to north on Tuesday, with heavy rains and winds of up to 125 miles per hour, leaving five deaths and heavy material damage.
For reasons not fully clarified, the passage of the hurricane generated a complete blackout on the Island, damage to about 200,000 homes and serious effects on crops and infrastructure.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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