The association of Cubans living in the United Kingdom announced today that it has raised 26,000 sterling pounds (almost 31,500 dollars) to help patients infected with Covid-19 in the Caribbean island.
“We did it! Thanks to all those who helped”,the organization Cubanos en UK posted in their web page, from where 28 days ago they started a campaign to acquire components of artificial ventilators that Cuba cannot buy due to the US blockade.
The organization sent special thanks to Cuban doctors Valia Rodríguez and Miriam Palacios,authors of the initiative, and to all those who contributed with their cash contributions to surpass the initial goal of collecting 25,000 pounds (a little more than 3,000 dollars).
Many of those donors also left messages of solidarity,among them Lord David Triesman, co-president of the Cuba Initiative,an entity that engages in promoting trade between the United Kingdom and the Caribbean country.
It is absurd that a people who contributes so much to the world pharmaceuticals and medical assistance should have to suffer from a shortage of medical equipment in these terrible times.The blockade is simply an act of immorality, said the British businessman.
The academician Evi Viza,who teaches at the University of Scotland,highlighted,for her part,the strength, honesty and humanism that emanates from Cuba, so she considered that “the least we can do is a small contribution like this one.”
In declarations to Prensa Latina, the president of Cubanos en UK, Daniesky Acosta, affirmed that it is not a gesture of charity ,but rather that it reflects the international solidarity towards the Caribbean island, at a time when many people have lost their jobs as a result of the global pandemic.
Contributing this money means that people recognizes the work that Cuba is doing,the quality of the Cuban health system, and the contribution of Cuban internationalist medical brigades to the fight against Covid-19,he stated.
According to Acosta, the association will now have to find ways to ensure that the inputs purchased with the funds provided can circumvent the structure of the extraterritorial laws and financial persecution that the United States has mounted in an attempt to strangle the Cuban people.