MIAMI, United States.- In an unprecedented event, the Government of Cuba would have requested emergency aid from the Joe Biden Administration, after Hurricane Ian passed through the west of the island last Monday, September 26, according to the american newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“An exact amount was not requested,” the report says, and the US government “was still trying to determine if Havana would follow through on the request while working to determine the extent of the damage,” the newspaper added.
Hurricane Ian, which entered the southern coast of Pinar del Río as category 3, left three dead and an entire country without electricity, which has caused a wave of protests in several provinces, especially in Havana, where in the last days people have taken to the streets to demand the reestablishment of the current while shouting Freedom!
The request, which according to the WSJ was made via email communications, comes as Russia, a longtime ally of the Cuban dictatorship, struggles with the war in Ukraine and international sanctions, while Havana faces its worst crisis ever. economy in three decades.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the emails to which it had access suggest that the US continued to interact with Havana to determine how much assistance is needed, and if humanitarian aid is approved, the US estimates that Cuban authorities would give priority to hospitals. , water pumping facilities, sanitation and other critical infrastructure.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the White House National Security Council declined to comment. For its part, the Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment.
The government in Havana has refused humanitarian aid from the United States on other occasions when the island has been affected by hurricanes. Last August, when a large-scale fire consumed part of the Supertanqueros de Matanzas base, the most important fuel base in Cuba, the United States offered technical assistance, Havana said she was grateful for the offerbut the request for help from the Cuban side was never formalized, Washington said.
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