Help us reach 10,000 names for Cuba’s fight against COVID-19 and the blockade
Cuba Update 4 April 2020 Dear friend,
More than 8,000 people from 97 countries have added their names to our open letter calling on the US blockade to be lifted to help Cuba fight the coronavirus at home and abroad.
Can you add yours and help us reach 10,000?
It takes just a few seconds to add your name and it sends a clear message to the Cuban people that they are not alone in their fight against coronavirus and the blockade. Just a few days ago, this lethal US policy stopped a Chinese shipment of COVID-19 testing kits and ventilators reaching the island.
That’s why we’re writing to ask you if you can help us achieve 10,000 signatures by signing our open letter asking for the US blockade to be lifted to help Cuba fight the coronavirus at home and abroad.
Cuba has shown international solidarity to Britain and other countries during this global pandemic. Now is our chance to show our appreciation.
Join the call on the British government to make urgent representations to the Trump administration to lift the blockade today.
Add your name to the open letter below and then please do share this with others:
As the world fights an international battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Cuba has once again proved itself a paragon of internationalism and solidarity. In recent days the island has sent teams of highly skilled medical brigades to many countries including Italy, Grenada, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Venezuela to support foreign health services overwhelmed by the scale of the crisis.
On 18 March the Cuban government offered safe haven to passengers of the stricken British cruise ship MS Braemar allowing it to dock in Havana when many other countries had refused. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab publicly thanked Cuba for this assistance in a statement to the UK parliament.
It has also made its anti viral drug Interferon Alfa-2b available to nations around the world to help in the treatment of patients infected with COVID-19.
The island’s altruistic response to the global emergency continues a long history of Cuban humanitarian response. In the last 56 years 400,000 Cuban health workers have responded to natural disasters and helped build health services in 164 nations. This includes sending medical brigades to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Kashmiri earthquake (2005), to Haiti to assist with the devastating cholera outbreak following the earthquake (2010), and to West Africa in the fight against Ebola (2015). Cuba has also trained 35,613 health professionals from 138 countries at its Latin American Medical School since 1998.
At the same time the island has suffered the effects of the 58-year old criminal United States blockade which causes daily shortages of food, fuel and other basic necessities. Last year the impact on the Cuban health sector alone amounted to costs of more than $104 million.
As we write, Cuba is itself combating the spread of coronavirus within its own population and needs access to medical equipment and resources to safeguard the well-being of its most vulnerable citizens. Cuba has always put the humanitarian needs of people first, regardless of borders or politics. At this time of international crisis, the US blockade is criminal, not only for its impact on the Cuban people, but also for hindering their ability to assist in the worldwide battle against the virus.
The Cuba Solidarity Campaign sends its eternal gratitude to the Cuban medical teams for the inspirational example of global solidarity they are giving. At the same time we call on the British Government to make an urgent representation to the US government to end its blockade immediately, and at the very least to temporarily suspend it to allow vital supplies of food, fuel and medical equipment to the Cuban people. The Cuban people supported the British people in a time of need. This is a chance to demonstrate our appreciation.
Cuba Solidarity Campaign c/o Unite, 33-37 Moreland Street, London EC1V 8BB, UK
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