Venezuela will send aid to Cuba to support its Government in the recovery from the considerable material damage experienced in the West, after the passage of the powerful Hurricane Ian, with category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale upon arrival on the Island, but already close to the highest classification for the strength of its winds.
Maduro, who lamented the disaster caused by the meteorological phenomenon, conveyed his solidarity and support to the Cuban government and people, after 50,000 people had to be evacuated, and land and sea transport was suspended.
All the support and solidarity of Venezuela for the people of Cuba and the President @DiazCanelB, in the face of the havoc and damage left by the passage of hurricane “Ian” through the island. As brother peoples we are more united than ever, forever and ever. pic.twitter.com/thj2mZPuTV
– Nicolas Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) September 28, 2022
“All the support for President Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, for the people of Cuba, all the support from Venezuela and the solidarity to go immediately to support the people of Pinar del Río, in western Cuba, in the havoc that has been wrought this hurricane,” Maduro said in a televised act cited by the agency Eph.
The Venezuelan president, who maintains a close relationship with Cuba, did not specify what type of aid he will send or when.
Ian, the fourth hurricane of the season and the first to affect Cuba, has torn off roofs, knocked down hundreds of trees and electrical poles against buildings and roads, flooded streets, brought down the towers of two baseball stadiums, flooded houses and affected homes, factories, fields of crops and warehouses of the tobacco leaf.
In addition, hours after it left land, the entire country was left without electricity due to a collapse in the electrical network, related to the passage of Ian, as confirmed by the Electric Union (UNE).
Ian made Cuban landfall in the early hours of Tuesday by La Coloma, Pinar del Río, with maximum sustained winds of over 200 km/h, moving at less than 20 kilometers per hour (Km/h) in a northerly direction.
Efe/OnCuba.
