The president of ChiliGabriel Boric, sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV to ask him to intervene in the humanitarian crisis that Cuba is experiencing in the midst of the oil siege decreed by the United States, official sources reported this Tuesday.
The General Secretariat of the Presidency (Segpres) explained in a statement that the letter “expressed Chile’s concern about the living conditions of the population and pointed out that the situation currently facing Cuba has acquired a worrying humanitarian dimension, directly impacting the food supply, the operation of hospitals, public transportation and the electricity supply.”
In the letter, delivered last Friday to the apostolic nuncio in Chile, Archbishop Kurian Mathew Vayalunkal, during a meeting in La Moneda – headquarters of the Chilean Government -, Boric also assured that “without ignoring ideological differences, humanitarian well-being must be placed above conflicts between States”, according to the Segpres.
The president also indicated that “any sustainable solution will require progress in terms of democracy and human rights,” according to the statement.
“The importance of advancing respect for fundamental freedoms was conveyed, including the situation of people detained for political reasons,” added the Segpres.
humanitarian aid
The Chilean Government announced last week the sending of one million dollars to the Caribbean island through Unicef, thus joining other countries that have also committed to sending humanitarian aid, such as Mexico or Spain.
That aid was later questioned by the president-elect, the far-right José Antonio Kast.
The increase in pressure from Washington, with the oil siege after the intervention in Venezuela and the presidential order of January 29 to impose tariffs on those who supply fuel to Cuba, has aggravated the deep energy crisis suffered by the island, to the point that frequent blackouts have reached record figures.
The lack of fuel has caused airlines from Canada and Russia, the two main sources of tourists to Cuba, to temporarily suspend flights to Havana after evacuating their stranded nationals.
Since Boric became President in March 2022 with a broad coalition that includes his party (the Broad Front), the communists and the traditional center-left, Cuba has been a thorny issue for the Government.
Despite defending Castroism during his time as a university leader and deputy, Boric has changed his position since he is in power, denouncing both the “criminal” economic blockade of the United States and the “dictatorship” that Cuba suffers, a position that makes the Communist Party uncomfortable.
