14ymedio, Havana, 27 March 2024 [Note delayed translation] — It is only 62,000 euros, but “the contribution constitutes a message of solidarity from the Japanese people,” said Tokyo’s ambassador to Cuba Hirata Kenji this Tuesday, during the signing of a document with which his country begins a new cooperation project, this time in Pinar del Río. The program is intended to support the production of processed foods in the provincial capital city.
“It is important for the largest of the Antilles to develop agriculture and be self-sufficient, which is why our Government, through cooperation programs, accompanies the policy of sovereignty and food security,” added Kenji.
The international NGO Humanity and Inclusion participates in the project, and its representative on the Island, Amélie Teisserenc, stated that it is planned to enhance the availability of fresh food, which includes the installation of equipment for processing and refrigeration of bottled foods and transport vehicles in the Engineering I and El Vial organoponic plants, both affected by Hurricane Ian, which devastated the area on September 27, 2022.
The availability of fresh food is expected to be increased, including the installation of equipment for processing and refrigeration of bottled food and transport vehicles.
At the event, there was time to remember the United States and Fidel Castro. The first was called out as to blame by the provincial governor, Eumelín González Sánchez, who said that agriculture “requires a great effort today to provide food for the locals, given the limitations imposed every day by the United States blockade against Cuba.”
“Cuba spends large sums of money each year on food and it is important to develop the agricultural sector for the benefit of its citizens,” Ambassador Kenji replied in a more restrained tone.
González Sánchez credited the “initiative of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro,” for the urban farming program, which has been implemented for decades, he added, without considering that the phrase revealed the limited scope of this agriculture in a context like Cuba, where it is first necessary to produce on a large scale.
Just two weeks ago, Kenji participated in the closing ceremony of an event on Strengthening health capacity for the COVID-19 crisis , where he reviewed the health collaboration between his country and Cuba. The diplomat commented that among the projects is a program for the digitalization of diagnostic imaging.
In addition, he recited the donations that were part of this program, including an ambulance, 46 refrigerators for the conservation of vaccines, 1,400 thermometers and 1,200 special thermoses for transporting the doses.
Ultrasound and diagnostic equipment was also donated to 255 primary care centers and 13 hospitals, as well as the Finlay Vaccine Institute and the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. He also detailed that 96,000 pregnant women benefited from programs for childbirth and postpartum care, as well as for the management of perinatal asphyxia.
Kenji expressed his satisfaction with the results of this cooperation, which he considered very modest despite being valued at almost 3 million dollars, and thanked UNICEF for the “good design of the project” and the Cuban health workers for their “magnificent performance.”
Kenji expressed his satisfaction with the results of this cooperation, which he considered very modest despite being valued at almost 3 million dollars
In 2022, Japan donated medical equipment worth 5 million dollars to 34 hospitals in the country, including 13 mobile X-ray machines, 44 ultrasound machines and 1,000 aspirators, as well as spare parts. This contribution was part of the non-reimbursable financial aid of the Economic and Social Development Program of the Government of Japan for Cuba, signed in 2016
In October 2021, as part of this agreement, Tokyo sent 44 ultrasound stations manufactured by Fujifilm for the diagnosis of various pathologies.
As a result of these agreements, 84 buses valued at 9 million dollars were also sent to the Island in January 2021. The vehicles left Colombia, where they were assembled by the Busscar company thanks to an agreement with Itochu Corporation and Isuzu Motors and were launched in February, almost a month after their arrival by which time doubts were beginning to arise about their effective operation.
Japan’s cooperation with Cuba, which has been in place for 60 years, has intensified since the 1990s, also covering community projects for human security and cultural assistance.
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