(EFE).- The Legal Rescue Foundation (FRJ) of exiled Cubans in Miami announced this Wednesday the shipment to the Island of 5 million dollars in medical supplies to alleviate the needs of the population, increased after the damage caused by Hurricane Ian. .
The president of the FRJ, Santiago Álvarez, announced at a press conference that the aid is now ready to be sent, although he clarified that the conditions for the delivery of the material through diplomatic channels are being worked on, without giving details.
“The aid will be delivered to hospitals and the victims,” Álvarez told Efe, after clarifying that, in no case, will it go through the Cuban authorities.
“The containers with the material are ready for shipment, but the Government of Havana is not going to touch them”
“The containers with the material are ready for shipment, but the government of Havana is not going to touch them,” Álvarez stressed at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in the city of Miami.
Although the aid had been planned for a long time, due to the deterioration of the living conditions of the Cuban population, efforts were intensified after Ian will hit the west with particular virulence of the Island last week.
In addition, the passage of Hurricane Ian further complicated the situation of the electrical system, causing a breakdown that almost completely shut down the country.
The scourge of the hurricane, the first to hit Cuba in the current cyclone season, left a provisional figure of five dead and serious material damage, until now only partially quantified.
Álvarez assured that the Cuban authorities intend to “sell” the aid that arrives for their compatriots, in addition to assuring that “thousands of Cubans live in shelters after the passage of previous hurricanes” and that he hopes that after Ian “it will not be different.”
“Inefficiency and negligence” are the words Álvarez used to define the government’s response to the hurricane.
Alexis Abril, from the Miami Medical Team Foundation, a group of medical professionals in South Florida that provides aid to countries suffering from catastrophes, told Efe that there are teams prepared to join the FRJ shipment, but that it is waiting for the approval of the authorities.
Cuba has received so far solidarity aid from the Governments of Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina, as well as from international organizations such as the World Health Organization
Cuba has so far received solidarity aid from the governments of Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina, as well as from international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO).
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Cuba at the end of last week to protest the lack of electricity, which was added to a general outage of mobile internet service, a problem that adds to the general shortage.
During the press conference, Álvarez also announced that the FRJ annually establishes two prizes in recognition of the fight against the “Cuban regime”, the Virgilio Campanería and the Carlos Alberto Montaner, both endowed with 5,000 dollars and whose winners will be made public. next October 10.
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