Humanitarian crisis in Cuba putting Canadian relief efforts on hold

Many Maritimers are trying to send help to Cuba.

While the attention of much of the world remains locked on the Middle East, there’s ongoing misery in Cuba.

Wide-spread fuel-shortages have led to even more power-blackouts, which has made an already difficult health-care situation much harder.

“The situation in Cuba is desperate. There’s a humanitarian crisis at the moment. The fuel blockade that the Trump administration brought into effect means that there’s no fuel. There’s been no fuel in Cuba since the very first week of January,” says John Kirk, professor with Dalhousie University’s department of Spanish and Latin American Studies.

“I was speaking with people in Havana this morning, there’s a problem with transportation, a problem with water because water is pumped with electricity…there’s no fuel for generators and hospitals. There are 32,000 pregnant women waiting for ultrasounds (that) can’t get them.”

While Canadian relief organizations are ready to offer a helping hand, many are being hindered by the country’s current situation.

Jennifer Raymer is the director of Together for Cuba, an organization that collects medical supplies from coast to coast and sends them down to Cuba with tourists.

“We’ve got bags full of cataract surgery supplies. We’ve got orthopedic surgery, we have sutures. We have everything that these people need to do their surgeries,” says Raymer.

“Gas is now up to $8 per litre and we have to take that into consideration. We are still managing to do our work. We are still delivering aid, we’re still delivering food, but we don’t know how long that can last with the shortage of fuel.”

Canadian James Crow and his wife spend six months out of the year in Cuba.

“Our regular power outage here in our area…was 35 hours per week. And it stayed that way through the whole winter until just the last couple of weeks or so," says Crow.

“Canadians are trying to do something. We all love this island, love these people so much that we’re all trying to do something to help them in some way or another.”

Kirk hopes the federal government will help any way they can.

“The Canadian government has given $8 million so far to help Cuba. That’s about one dollar a person in Cuba. It’s not much…the Canadian government needs to be lobbied, needs to provide more food, more aid and fuel,” he says.