The “Our America” initiative, organized by a coalition of international movements to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba, will go from being a flotilla to a “convoy” by “air, sea and land” that is scheduled to arrive in Havana on March 21.
The convoy will deliver “food, medicine, medical supplies and essential goods” and will converge on the Malecón in Havana, according to the organizers in a statement.
International delegations of the initiative, made up of “trade union movements, deputies, humanitarian organizations and public figures” are already organizing collection points, the acquisition of essential supplies and travel logistics, the letter added.
Several progressive political figures have already given their support to the flotilla, including Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish environmental activist who participated in the Sumud flotilla to Gaza, and US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.
“The United States is currently committing a brutal act of collective punishment against the Cuban people,” Thunberg said in the statement, “I support this convoy to Cuba (…) because international solidarity is the only force powerful enough to stand up to imperial figures like Trump and Netanyahu.”
Flotilla organizer with aid to Cuba: “We cannot allow the siege against the island to be normalized”
Inspired by the Gaza flotilla
The initiative is inspired by the Sumud flotilla, which has tried to bring aid to Gaza, in the midst of the siege by the Israeli Government. Several organizers of this mission to Cuba previously participated in the flotilla to the Palestinian territories.
Last week, the UN expressed its concern about the growing fuel shortage in Cuba and its impact on the population and announced that the UN is working with the Cuban Government to “provide greater support” to the island.
Cuba is in the most delicate situation in the last 67 years, since Washington imposed an embargo on the island, after Donald Trump’s Government decided to impose additional sanctions on countries that supply oil to the island.
Following the US military intervention in Venezuela, Trump blocked shipments of crude oil and gasoline to the island from Caracas, leaving Cuba without this essential ally.
To address the situation, the Government of Cuba implemented an emergency plan that left health and transportation at minimum services, severely rationed fuel and applied restrictions in multiple sectors, including education.
