Madrid/The visit of the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, to doha At the beginning of November it bears fruit. Qatar has reported that it will give four and a half million dollars to Cuba through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). According to the official statement, made public on Saturday by the Qatar Development Fund In its networks, the objective is to “reestablish electrical service in the Cuban provinces of Artemisa, Mayabeque and Havana, seriously affected by the hurricanes.”
The most recent hurricane that affected the Island, however, did not reach the west but the east. Melissa made landfall with category category 3 (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, precisely when Marrero was on an official trip through the Persian Gulflooking for financing.
“This support will contribute to the restoration of essential public services, such as health centers, educational institutions and food production systems, benefiting more than 2.2 million people,” the Qatari tweet also said, detailing that the donation was signed in a ceremony attended by Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani, president of the Qatar Fund for Development.
“This support will contribute to the restoration of essential public services, benefiting more than 2.2 million people”
During his visit to Doha last month, within the framework of the World Summit on Social Development, the Cuban Prime Minister received from his Qatari counterpart the promise to strengthen the “ties of brotherhood” between both countries and, consequently, the sending of aid. Referring to the passage of Hurricane Melissa, the head of the Qatari Government said that the Island “will always have the support of Qatar.”
Also on that occasion, Marrero visited the so-called Dukhan Cuban Hospitalwhere the Island’s exported toilets provide service, currently a total of 1,200, according to official figures. Years ago, in a report on the subject, the British newspaper Guardian calculated that Qatar’s payment for each Cuban doctor It ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 dollars a monthdepending on the specialty, of which only about 1,000 each worker received, in a practice denounced on numerous occasions by international organizations as forced labor.
Relations between Cuba and Qatar date back to the end of 1989, with Fidel Castro in power and with full powers. In 2023, during a visit by the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, both nations shared the “interest in deepening political-diplomatic ties” and ratified the “will to diversify and expand economic, commercial and cooperation ties.”
