Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Beijing, Apr 1 .- The Cuban ambassador to China, Carlos Miguel Pereira, denounced today that the economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States prevents the Alibaba company from bringing a donation to the island to combat Covid-19.
According to the diplomat, the North American firm hired to transport a batch of face masks and diagnostic kits of the deadly disease to the Caribbean nation, declined at the last minute its commission under the argument of hostile siege regulations.
'The noble, enormous and commendable effort of the founder of Alibaba and the Jack Ma Foundation , which had managed to reach more than fifty countries around the world, was unable to touch Cuban soil, no matter how necessary those resources might be in I support the battle that the small Antillean island besieged and blocked is fighting, 'he said.
Pereira expressed on behalf of his Government deep appreciation to the Chinese businessman for the donation and the efforts underway to reach its final destination.
'Again, the unfair, arbitrary and illegal blockade that disrupts everything. (?) Things for Cuba will always be more difficult, that's why each achievement, each small step forward, becomes a colossal triumph against the demons, 'he concluded in an opinion piece.
On March 22, Jack Ma announced on the social network Twitter the shipment of two million masks, 400,000 diagnostic reagents and 104 ventilators for 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba, to support the confrontation with the pandemic of Covid-19.
"A single world, a single struggle," he wrote, adding that they would promptly transport the cargo to the Greater Antilles, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Peru, among other states in that region.
Apart from Latin America and the Caribbean, Jack Ma and the Alibaba Foundation prepared similar donations for nations in Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States.
Faced with the international spread of Covid-19, many voices urge Washington to lift its unilateral measures imposed on Cuba, Venezuela and Iran to guarantee them access to humanitarian aid and the products that their respective peoples need.
However, the White House ignores the calls and even threatens to tighten its coercive policy against these nations.
In the case of Cuba, the administration of President Donald Trump has recently tightened the fence of almost 60 years with strong limitations on family remittances, restrictions on people-to-people contact and increasing harassment of foreign companies with businesses on the island. (PL)
