Cuba, which records a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases, received on Friday July 23 1.7 million syringes and still expects more than 4 million, from American groups opposed to the economic embargo of the United States .
"
We thank the movement for Cuba in the United States, which called for solidarity, love and an end to the embargo,
" said Nestor Marimon, director of international relations and cooperation at the ministry of Health (Minsap).
Read also: Cuba: order restored under the watchful eye of Beijing and Moscow
On the occasion of receiving the donation worth about "
100,000 dollars
", Nestor Marimon praised "
these humanitarian gestures which are of great value in the current context
", while Cuba sent doctors to 40 countries to fight the pandemic, according to the authorities. On Twitter, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also thanked “
the Solidarity Movement with #Cuba in the United States
” for its “
fraternal gesture with the Cuban people who are resisting despite the strengthening of the embargo
”.
The island of 11 million inhabitants is currently experiencing a worrying increase in contamination and deaths from Covid-19.
In total, the country has recorded 316,383 reported cases and 2,203 deaths, according to official figures as of Friday.
The purchase and shipment of the syringes was coordinated by Global Health Partners, an American organization that has been sending drugs and medical supplies to Cuba since 1994.
"
These are genuine demonstrations of cooperation, very different from the decisions of those who want to strengthen the embargo in order to suffocate the Cuban people and who today claim, in a hypocritical, false and opportunistic manner, to deploy aid campaigns
", Nestor Marimon added, referring to a recent proposal from the US president.
Joe Biden said a week ago that he was ready to send "
a significant amount
" of Covid-19 vaccines to the island, but called for them to be administered by an international organization. "
If they sincerely want to help us, let them remove the embargo (in force since 1962), this is what our people need and what they are asking for,
" Nestor Marimon insisted. Cuba authorized the use of its Covid-19 Abdala vaccine, the first made in Latin America, in early July. So far, 3.4 million Cubans have received at least one dose of this vaccine or the Soberana 2 vaccine candidate, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health from Thursday.