According to the daily Granma, the Cuban government has reported that it has received a total of 543 offers of financial, medical and other assistance from 51 countries to assist it in combating the COVID pandemic. Offers have come from Russia, China, several African and Mideastern nations, Canada, the European Union, and Central and South America. Several UN agencies are also involved. The Biden administration announced today that it intends to send humanitarian aid, but no details as to what this will include. Meanwhile, the Cuban government is setting up special bank accounts and other vehicles through which donations can be sent.
Note too, that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), of which Mexico is the President Pro Tempore, will be sending 100,000 syringes to Cuba, urgently needed, because the economic embargo and sanctions have made it impossible for the government to obtain them to vaccinate its population with the COVID vaccines it has developed. In addition, a group of Cuban citizens resident in the Dominican Republican is also organizing through a campaign called “One Million Syringes for Cuba,” raising money to obtain syringes and send them to Cuba. A couple of months ago, Cuba had reported it needed 30 million syringes, to which charitable and Cuban support groups internationally responded by purchasing syringes and sending them to the island. But recently, the government said it still needs 20 million, so international organizing efforts are continuing to obtain this amount.
