Havana/Cuba received a cargo of more than 20 tons of humanitarian aid of Belarusia to assist those affected by natural disasters that affected the island last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Sunday.
“We thank the government and people of Belarus for their support and for solidarity to Cuba of more than 20 tons of humanitarian aid, with food and medical supplies, for those affected by the hurricanes and the earthquake that ravaged the country last fall,” wrote the chancellor, Bruno Rodríguez, in X.
Belarus, governed by Alexander Lukashenko – known as the last dictator of Europe – is one of the priority partners of the Cuban government. The relationships, traditionally warm and friendly since the Soviet era, have experienced a new impulse since last year, after economic and military cooperation agreements signed at the end of last year, within the framework of which, Minsk could supply Havana different types of weapons, including Polonez missile launches, with a range of up to 300 kilometers.
Belarus defense minister, Víctor Jrenin, was in Havana in January 2024, where I sign the cooperation agreement in this area and stressed that Cuba is his “important partner” in the Caribbean, since both are “very similar countries” and “do not renounce their objectives.”
Other striking exchanges Between the two parts They were the 12 tractors promised by the government in exchange for the few products that Cuba could supply. “We are interested in the supply of rum, cocoa grains, coffee, fruit puree and other products,” said Belarusian Prime Minister Román Golovchenko.
After the passage of the hurricanes Óscar and Rafael, in October and November, to which they added the effects of two earthquakes, of magnitude 6 and 6.8, registered in the southeast on November 17, Cuba has received a wave of governments donations, international organizations and NGOs.
The damages counted by the severe coup of those natural disasters in the last year – according to official data – include more than 34,000 homes, 37,000 hectares of agricultural production and in a group of facilities in that sector, and severe ravages on electricity, water and communications services.
His impacts joined the complicated economic situation that Cuba suffers, plunged for more than five years in a serious crisis that translates into the shortage of basic products, prolonged blackouts, galloping inflation, a growing dollarization and an unprecedented migratory wave.
Óscar – the first hurricane who touched Cuban territory in the last season – hit the eastern province of Guantanamo with winds of more than 130 kilometers per hour.
Shortly after, Hurricane Rafael crossed from South to North to Artemisa province, becoming a category 3 cyclone, affected some 800,000 people from that area and their neighbors Mayabeque, Havana and the island of Youth.
In addition, the earthquakes that hit the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba caused damage to housing and key infrastructure and also an energy emergency that disconnected the national electrical system.
