by Iliana García Giraldino
May 20, 2024
reprinted from CubaDebate
translated by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews
Cuba thanked the American group Hatuey for the donation of cytostatics for children with cancer, needles for bone marrow extraction, catheters, and other means in a press conference offered today by organizers of that solidarity group at the headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).
The purchase of the shipment, which includes other specific medications in high demand that are in short supply in the country due to the blockade, was possible thanks to the efforts of friends, organizations, and people of goodwill in the United States, who raised $60,000 for this purpose.
“It is little per the needs, it is not much, but there has been a lot of work to achieve it, and this is just the beginning. The world is with the Cuban people and against the economic blockade imposed by the United States,” declared the leader of Hatuey, Gloria la Riva, activist and dear friend of Cuba for whom she has worked tirelessly in the U.S. since 1985.
She spoke of the efforts to raise funds, in which organizations such as IFCO Pastors for Peace, the Party for Socialism and Liberation of the United States, the People’s Forum in New York, cultural and sports activities, friends from Australia, and American doctors participated. They provided scientific advice and contacts with pharmaceutical companies.
The group from Hatuey that brought the donation is made up of 20 people, most of them young people who are coming to the Island for the first time to get to know it more and learn from their experiences, Gloria commented, stating, “Everyone is proud of this achievement after almost a year of work in this first phase,” she stressed.
“We are here to show the Cuban people that they are not alone, we are much stronger united and united we are going to defeat the blockade, we cannot disappoint Cuba, we will always be on their side,” she remarked.
Fernando González Llort, president of ICAP, attended the meeting with the press of the representatives of Hatuey—an acronym in English for Health Advocates in Truth, Unity and Empathy—who will deliver the donations directly to the Juan Manuel Márquez pediatric hospitals in the capital and José Luis Miranda, in Santa Clara.
Andira Alves, a young social activist from Boston, recognized the Island’s history of solidarity in African nations and other regions. “We have seen how Cuba has developed vaccines not only for its people but for the world,” she highlighted, alluding to the recent visit carried out by the group at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.
After referring to Hatuey’s previous donations—during the COVID-19 epidemic, after the fire at the Supertanker Base, and after the passage of Cyclone Ian—she stated, “We want to show that the United States government does NOT speak for us. We have a lot to learn from our exchanges in Cuba. ”
Representing the Ministry of Public Health, Aldo Grandal spoke movingly about the donations for small cancer patients, “medicines that the blockade prevents us from acquiring for hospitalized children, representing a lot for treatments and for their parents, and covering part of the great needs of the system health, it is a very valuable help that we are infinitely grateful for,” he stressed.
At the end of the exchange with the national and international press, Fernando González Llort, pointing to the Hatuey group, asserted, “This is the true people of the United States, good, humble people, who with great efforts provide help, not that government that prohibits the acquisition of medicines for children, depriving them of their right to life.”
