Things are always more difficult for Cuba. Not even in times of pandemic, Cubans are allowed to take a break. When on 13 March, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, the Chinese tech titan and the foundation named after him announced to the world his intention of donating to the U.S. 500,000 rapid test kits for COVID-19 and one million face masks, ignoring the xenophobic and racist accusations of the current U.S. President, he had already done it to other nations such as Japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran and Spain, which were considered the countries exposed to greater danger, as an example of his transparent call for joining efforts in this hard and uneven battle.
On 16 March, a second shipment with donations for supporting prevention works in Europe arrived at the Liege airport in Belgium. The same day, it was also reported the arrival in Ethiopia of another shipment destined for the 54 African countries. The next day, a flight from Hangzhou to Rome carried medical supplies for the Italian Red Cross and it was announced that more kits and masks were on their way.
The same day, another plane landed in Zaragoza, Spain, with a valuable cargo of 500,000 masks and other medical equipment to support the fight against the novel coronavirus. That day, the following hashtag was posted in Jack Ma´s Twitter account, in Spanish: #Estevirusloparamosentretodos (#Wewillstopthisvirustogether). The next day, another shipment arrived in Liege to support the Belgian and French efforts. The Chinese agency XINHUA highlighted that Jack Ma foundation increased its efforts to provide more support to affected countries, especially Italy, Belgium, Spain, Slovenia, France, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
On 19 March, it was the turn for the Asian neighbors such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
On 21 March, more emergency supplies for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A few days later, similar shipments arrived in Azerbaijan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. It added up to 23 Asian countries.
On 22 March, while the pandemic continued expanding, it was the turn for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jack Ma announced in a new tweet the shipment of 2 million masks, 400,000 rapid test kits and 104 ventilators to 24 countries of our region, including Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Peru. On 24 March, a post from the Chinese Ambassador to Panama, confirmed the arrival in that country of 100,000 masks and 10 test kits, while his colleague in Havana had confirmed the same.
On 30 March, there were still announcements of additional shipments of equipment, namely: ventilators, gloves and medical protective suits. Hashtag #OneWorldOneFight became trending on the internet.
However, among so much news and announcements, one of those shipments could not reach its final destination.
It turns out that the carrier, a U.S. company hired for transporting the supplies, refused at the last minute to do so, arguing that the regulations of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against the destination country, which was tightened by the current U.S. administration, prevented it from doing it so.
The noble, enormous and commendable efforts of the founder of Alibaba and the Jack Ma Foundation, which had managed to reach over fifty countries around the world, could not touch Cuban soil; no matter how necessary those resources might be in support of the battle being fought by the small, besieged and blockaded Caribbean island. Once again, it was the unjust, arbitrary and illegal blockade that ruins everything.
We thank Mr. Ma for having thought of us and for the efforts he still makes to ensure that the contribution of his foundation can finally reach its destination. Things will always be more difficult for Cuba, that´s why every achievement, every small step forward, becomes a gigantic victory against demons.