Argentina will send humanitarian aid to Cuba to help mitigate the consequences of the fires unleashed in oil tanks, Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero announced today, stressing that “solidarity and cooperation” guide the foreign policy of the Government of Alberto Fernández.
In response to the request for humanitarian aid made by Cuba in the face of the health consequences of the terrible fire in the Matanzas industrial zone, a port city 100 kilometers east of Havana, on Monday at 2 AM “will be transferred, from the International Airport of Ezeiza, the first load of Argentine donations for the sister Caribbean country, made up of more than 2.7 tons of health supplies, and later two other shipments will be made on Thursday the 18th and Friday the 19th of this month“, The Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“On Monday, through White Helmets, we will send a load of donations with more than 2.7 tons of health supplies, and Thursday and Friday there will be other shipments,” Cafiero had stated from his Twitter account, where he remarked that “solidarity and cooperation guide our foreign policy.
???? FIRE IN CUBA: ARGENTINA SEND HUMANITARIAN AID
Monday through @cascosblancos We will send a load of donations with more than 2.7 tons of health supplies. Thursday and Friday there will be other shipments.
Solidarity and cooperation guide our foreign policy. pic.twitter.com/wDsiJqCreR
– Santiago Cafiero (@SantiagoCafiero) August 14, 2022
In this way, after the Embassy of Cuba in Buenos Aires sent the request for help and the efforts carried out by the Argentine Embassy in Havana, the Argentine Agency for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance White Helmets headed by Sabina Frederic, With precise instructions issued by the Argentine Foreign Ministry, he initiated the corresponding procedures before the various public and private entities to send the donations required by the Cuban government.
Thus, on Tuesday, August 9, the Ministry of Health of the Nation, from its Directorate of International Relations, confirmed the availability and shipment of “10 thousand gloves; 500 hooded rompers; 2,400 kits of camisoles, caps and boots; 3 thousand camisoles with cuffs; 20 thousand trilayer chinstraps; 10 thousand KN95 masks; 50 infrared thermometers; thousand disposable plastic aprons and 200 facial protective masks; that make up more than 800 kilos of merchandise in 155 packages“.
For its part, the Ministry of Health of the province of Buenos Aires confirmed the availability of the following supplies: “1,150,000 latex gloves; 30 cotton packages; 50 units of non-sterile bandages; 50 units of sterile bandages; 35 units of sterile gauze; 300 units of catheters; 200 units of cannulas; 95 central venous catheter kits; six units of sulfadiazine (cream) and 25,000 cotton gauze dressings”.
The total weight of both loads ranges from 7 tons and an approximate value of USD 55 thousand.
On the other hand, the National Directorate of Planning and Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance took steps with Aerolineas Argentinas to guarantee the air transport of the donations, and a commitment was obtained to transport them, without any outlay, on the regular flights that cover the Buenos Aires route. Aires-Punta Cana-Havana three times a week.
A delegation of state humanitarian assistance volunteers began work in the warehouse of the Ministry of Health of the Nation, in the town of Tortuguitas, in order to carry out the progressive verification of the cargo, prepare the lists in accordance with the customs requirements of both countries. and prepare it for international transport.
The Institute of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba (IACC) has already issued the authorization for the transport of passengers and cargo, while waiting for the logistics company Aerovaradero to confirm that it is already in a position to receive and deliver the cargo to the importing company, Medicuba. .
The fire, which had started on August 5 at a fuel storage base in Matanzas, in western Cuba, was “controlled” last Wednesday by the island’s Fire Department.
