The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) sent to Cuba a shipment of humanitarian aid valued at 100,000 euros (equivalent to 103,446 dollars) with essential goods for those affected by the passage of Hurricane Ian.
This shipment joins the contribution, by the Spanish Cooperation, to the appeal of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent for Cuba in the face of the emergency caused by the passage of the meteor through the western region of the island last September 27, states a statement from the AECID.
The load will be distributed among families affected by the passage of Hurricane Ian in the province of Pinar del Río, the hardest-hit territory.
The AECID explains that the shipment is part of the Team Europe operations, an initiative of the European Union (EU) that facilitates the transport of humanitarian goods in order to improve the arrival and impact of aid at its destination.
The donation, which includes hygiene products, kitchen kits, 900 sets of sheets, 450 water cans, 600 zinc sheets for roofing and plastic tarpaulins, left last Saturday by sea from its warehouse in Panama.
The statement stresses that Hurricane Ian is one of the most destructive that has hit Cuba in recent years, with a total of 3.2 million people affected in the provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Havana and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth.
It also stresses that only in Pinar del Río, a total of 25,000 people require humanitarian support, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
The AECID, attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation (MAUC), is the main management body for Spanish Cooperation. It is oriented towards the fight against poverty and sustainable human development, with humanitarian action among its priorities.
Ian, a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (maximum of 5), after crossing over Pinar del Río left that territory without electricity, more than 106,000 homes were left with partial and total destruction, and similarly affected the telephone services and agriculture, especially its main crop, tobacco.
Other damage was reported to the water supply, as well as damage to health centers and some 1,000 schools.
The serious damage caused by this hurricane in Cuba has gradually been partially quantified and a total balance of the losses is still awaited.
