Proposals to Get Help to Havana’s Tornado Victims

The State is responsible for taking measures and decisions that help donations and contributions become effective as soon as possible. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, 29 January 2019 — How to help? This is one of the first questions that arises when, Monday at dawn, we see the images of the destruction left by Sunday night’s tornado that affected several areas of Havana. The campaigns for the collection of resources and food have begun, there are neighbors lending a roof so a family that lost everything can sleep in safety, and citizens who look for the most suitable ways to offer this solidarity from within and outside of Cuba.

Now, the State is responsible for taking measures and decisions that help these donations and contributions become effective as soon as possible and benefit the greatest number of victims. Here are some proposals for the Plaza of the Revolution to facilitate the arrival of aid and speed the recovery:

  • The State must start distributing, as soon as possible and free of charge, food, water, blankets and flashlights for families who have lost everything and those who live in the most affected areas; not selling them, as it did this Monday in the neighborhoods most affected, such as Luyanó and Regla.
  • The General Customs Office of the Republic has to decree a moratorium on its strict regulations limiting imports for personal use, extend it to private businesses so that not only the affected families can receive aid in the form of food, clothing, medicines and construction materials, but also so that small home repair businesses can stock up on supplies.
  • Allow ‘natural persons’ to import vehicles of all types and sizes to replace those destroyed in order to provide a vehicle fleet to support reconstruction and mobility in the affected areas.
  • Eliminate the 10% tax on the dollar so that remittances received from abroad, especially from the United States, grant the benefitting families the maximum purchasing power.
  • Substantially reduce the prices of basic products such as oil, flour, milk and eggs throughout the domestic trade network, at least in Havana.
  • The Telecommunications Company of Cuba must offer, as soon as possible, a significant reduction in the price of calls abroad and within the Island, especially for its customers in the Cuban capital, to facilitate communications and interaction between those affected and their families.
  • This reduction should also extend to the 3G data connection service from mobile phones and wireless connections in wifi zones.
  • Suspend taxes for the self-employed (the private sector) in the damaged neighborhoods and approve loans on favorable terms for the reconstruction of their businesses.
  • Allow non-governmental organizations and international organizations to enter the country to assess the damages and help those most affected. Guarantee that the Catholic Church and other religious institutions can carry out, without obstacles or restrictions, their humanitarian work.
  • Allow a recovery campaign on the part of civil society, ordinary people, Cuban emigrants and international organizations, ending the government’s monopoly on solidarity and aid.

In the next few days we will be able to verify if the State’s priority is the recovery of the people or the exclusive control of the aid to play politics with the catastrophe.

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