Let us not forget Cuba. The devastation is enormous. Imagine and do not forget the suffering of the Cuban people. Witness the destruction left by Hurricane Irma in the following videos. Hurricane Irma was a Category Five storm that laid to waste many of the islands in the Caribbean and the northern and eastern coast, as far west as Havana.
The region depends, mostly, on tourism. This is a 21st-century tragedy of unbelievable magnitude.
Feel like donating to Hurricane Irma relief efforts? Take care of where you send your money. It would appear that American-based companies such as Stripe and GoFundMe, Eventbrite (as well as PayPal – from my personal experience) are confiscating money, deactivating accounts, or withholding funds, according to an article on CounterPunch.
And how will Cuba recover from this disaster? NGOs and foreign governments have promised humanitarian aid in solidarity. Help and efforts to rebuild across the region are underway on the Island, most notably by Venezuela, which appears to be “first in.” Vietnam has also joined the list of nations (Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, Panama, and the U.S. organization, Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)), to help Cuba in its time of need. NGOs currently offering assistance include OXFAM, UNICEF, the Cuban Red Cross, and Caritas.
The Cuban Ambassador to the United States, José Ramón Cabañas, tweeted yesterday: “To keep a failed policy vs. #Cuba is a mistake. To support the #blockade after the natural disasters suffered this week is a crime.”
Let us not waste time.
Call it for what it is. History will view this crime, and we will record it for exactly what it is. It is a crime against humanity of a scale and cruelty so immense it will be on par with many of the well-known mass genocides of the 20th century. It is unnecessary to name them here.
So, for those who make important decisions about a country that they’ve never visited and know nothing about, consider that United States foreign policy should “reflect your humanity…”
Cuba Tries to Recover After Hurricane Irma hits…
T.K. Hernández is co-founder and editor at Cuba Business Report. Her work has been published in various online news media publications. Hernández has supported fundraising for Cuba’s last two hurricane disaster relief campaigns and is a member of the Canadian Network on Cuba. She is also a member of The Writers Union of Canada, and ACES International Alliance of Editors. Ms. Hernández is the author of three books, most recently, “The Cuba Interviews: Conversations on Foreign Investment and Economic Development,” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).
