Mottley says hurdles cleared for long-delayed Caricom aid package to Cuba
US sanctions had blocked earlier attempts to send cash for baby formula and other essentials, the Barbados prime minister said as the Caricom summit ended in St Lucia.
CASTRIES, St Lucia. Caribbean governments are now in a better position to deliver a long-promised aid package to Cuba after clearing sanctions and other obstacles, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has said.
Caricom pledged the assistance nearly a year ago but complained that international sanctions and other hurdles had prevented the region from making good on its promise.
Cuba and the 15-nation bloc have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1972, ties that have grown to include two-way trade and Cuba’s provision of thousands of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to support health sectors in the region.
What the aid covers
It is not clear when the cash or material package will arrive, but the region recently said the money was for baby formula, non-perishable goods, beans, wheat flour, rice, canned food and hardware such as solar power units, batteries and water tanks. Officials said Mexican authorities would assist.
Mottley said that in one case the region had tried to send cash to buy baby formula and other essentials, but US sanctions meant the financial system rejected the transactions.
“We’ve had to go through circuitous routes with respect to dealing with countries who are willing to ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered to Cuba,” she told reporters as this week’s leaders’ summit ended in St Lucia. “Nobody is going to release the milk without payment, and because we are shipping it to Cuba, therefore the process goes through enhanced due diligence.”
“There is a humanitarian crisis, and you cannot continue to ignore that reality. Humanitarian relief comes above everything else, because none of us can give back life to anybody,” she said.
‘The neighbourhood’
“When you live in a neighbourhood, what happens in the neighbourhood affects everyone, and the neighbourhood stretches from Florida to Guyana and Suriname in the south,” Mottley said, acknowledging that the issue would always be complicated.
The announcement came in the same week the region sent 88 containers of food, 300 large plastic water tanks and other items to earthquake-hit Venezuela, where more than 3,000 people have died and many thousands more are missing. Trinidad has also said it is preparing to send a shipment.
