CARICOM clears path for delayed humanitarian aid to Cuba

About a year after Caribbean states vowed to deliver relief funding to cash-strapped Cuba, the bloc had struggled to follow through, citing US sanctions and other obstacles. According to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, those barriers have now been removed, leaving member countries better able to provide assistance.

Diplomatic links between Cuba and the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) date back to 1972. Over time the relationship has grown beyond politics to cover mutual commerce and the deployment of large numbers of Cuban doctors, nurses and other health workers into CARICOM nations facing strained medical systems.

News of the forthcoming Cuba package coincided with regional shipments to Venezuela after a devastating earthquake there: 88 containers of food, 300 oversized plastic water tanks and additional relief goods. Authorities say more than 3,000 people have been killed in Venezuela and many thousands remain unaccounted for. Trinidad has indicated it is also readying its own consignment for Venezuela.

Mottley described one earlier attempt in which the region sought to transfer money for infant formula and other necessities, only for US economic sanctions to block the payments when banks refused to process them.

“The money that was sent back because of the sanctions, it is almost impossible to be able to deliver it, and 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. 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,” she told journalists at the close of this week’s CARICOM leaders’ meeting in St. Lucia.

“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.”

Officials have not confirmed a delivery date for either the funds or physical goods. Recent regional statements listed intended purchases as baby formula, shelf-stable foods, beans, wheat flour, rice, canned items, and equipment including solar power units, batteries and water tanks. Mexican authorities are expected to help coordinate the joint response.

“When you live in a neighborhood, what happens in the neighborhood affects everyone, and the neighborhood stretches from Florida to Guyana and Suriname in the south,” Mottley said. “We recognize that this is always going to be a complicated and complex issue, as was reflected in the United Nations debate on Tuesday, but we want to remain focused on the humanitarian efforts and we want to remain focused on the dialogue that should continue to take place.”