President Obama’s administrative measures and bold leadership heralded a new era of U.S.-Cuba relations but the sustenance of long-term, meaningful ties require changing existing laws through the action of the U.S. Congress.
Cuban officials reported that a shipment of coronavirus aid to the US on Tuesday from Asia’s richest man, Jack Ma, has been blocked by the six-decade U.S. embargo on Cuba. The cargo carrier of Colombia-based Avianca Airlines declined to carry the aid to Cuba because its major shareholder is a U.S.-based company subject to the trade embargo on Cuba.
Carlos M. Pereira, Cuba’s ambassador to China, said that Ma’s foundation attempted to send Cuba 100,000 face masks and 10 COVID-19 diagnostic kits, along with other aid, including ventilators and gloves. Carlos Fernando de Cossio, Cuba’s head of U.S. affairs, also blasted the block.
The blocking of the aid should be “an action inconceivable in a global crisis,” but “it doesn’t surprise us,” said de Cossio. “It’s the type of obstacle that Cuba confronts daily in order to take care of the country’s basic necessities.”
Cuba was one of 24 countries in the region meant to receive the donations from the Jack Ma Foundation, which is sending similar aid to countries around the world, including the United States. Cuba called the blockage of the shipment a “violation of human rights.”
Human-rights groups have been pleading to the U.S. to lift sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and Iran during the coronavirus pandemic in order to expand the flow of aid. The Trump administration has argued that only the countries’ government would benefit from the sanctions relief.
In an attempt to prevent further introduction of coronavirus to the island, Cuba has closed all air and sea connections, with the exception of essential cargo and government flights. On Friday, Cuba recorded 269 confirmed cases, 3,241 people in quarantine, 15 patients recovered from the infection and six COVID-19-related deaths.
One town in western Cuba and a relatively upper-class section of Havana have been completely isolated to prevent the spread of the disease.
Cuba’s population of 11 million people enjoy free universal health care with 95,000 medical workers, but operates without much of the equipment and testing generally available in developed countries.
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