Canadian Network on Cuba

CANADIAN NETWORK ON CUBA

August ??, 2005

Dear Friends,

Hurricane Dennis struck Cuba On July 8-9, unusually early in this 2005 hurricane season, causing extensive damage to many of the island’s provinces. It entered the southeastern provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba and churned westward along the island’s south coast to Cienfuegos, strengthening to a category 4 storm with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour. It then slashed northward across the island, leaving Cuba east of Havana. Despite the well- organized civil defense measures always employed by Cuba (1.5 million citizens were evacuated from dangerous areas), 16 lives were lost.

The material damage was severe, amounting to more than U.S.$1.4 billion. More than 161,000 homes were affected, 25,196 of them were totally destroyed and 18,767 badly damaged. He beautiful city and province of Cienfuegos were especially hard hit. There, 33.21 homes were affected, 6,412 totally destroyed and 5,149 badly damaged. Serious damage was also done to schools, hospitals, polyclinics, cultural centres, factories, hotels, electrical and communications systems.

The international community has, with the clear exception of Venezuela, has been slow to give meaningful assistance to Cuba. The Canadian Network on Cuba is urging the Canadian government to make a significant contribution. The United States, which in addition to its continued brutal economic embargo of Cuba has destined $59 million this year alone to the dissident industry in Cuba, made the cynical offer of $50,000 (Can$60,000). Cuba promptly rejected this “offer” from the U.S. The extent of the destruction may be appreciated when we consider that its $1.4 billion cost is greater than Cuba’s earnings in 2004 from its principal industry, tourism.

A Hurricane Relief Fund for Cuba has been established and is being administered by the Canadian Network on Cuba. In inviting you to donate to the Fund, we ask that you consider Cuba's extraordinary record of generosity to people throughout the world who are in dire need of the most basic services. The island's highly educated people are dedicating their skills and their inventions to improve the health, education and general human development of people in more than sixty countries. In Haiti, for example, more than 500 Cuban medical personnel are treating free of charge 80% of the country’s population, with dramatic reductions in infant and maternal mortality rates. In order to make such gains permanent and indigenous to Haiti, Cuba set up a medical school for Haitian students in Haiti. The school had been in operation for three years, with an enrolment of some 300 students when the United States, as part of the exercise to remove the Aristide-led government from power, billeted its soldiers in the school, effectively closing it down. Yet the Cubans, who continued their medical services to the people of Haiti in the ensuing chaotic and dangerous conditions, were not deterred. They transported the more than 300 medical students to Santiago to continue their schooling there free of charge. At the same time, other Haitian students are studying, along with more than 8,000 other financially challenged but ethically motivated students from this hemisphere, at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, all free of charge. Besides, Operation Miracle, the programme by which cataract operations have already been carried out in Cuba on more than 27,000 Venezuelans to have their eyesight restored, often from total blindness, has now been expanded to include 100,000 Venezuelans, 100,000 people from the rest of Latin American and 15,000 from the Caribbean islands.

Cuba also makes drugs, such as the retroviral drugs to fight AIDS, and vaccines, such as the vaccine against cholera, that it has developed and made available free of charge or at low prices to Third World countries. It has also produced some new cancer-fighting drugs which are so effective and unique that the U.S. has broken its own embargo on trade with Cuba to have access to them.

In addition, Cuba has developed the most effective method known for teaching people to read and write, and is applying it throughout the world in many languages. It has already brought 1.4 million Venezuelans to literacy and the Maori people of New Zealand have also been the beneficiaries of Cuban teachers and their method.

The need for funds to recover from hurricane Dennis is urgent. We aim to forward to Cuba an initial contribution of $60,000 as soon as possible. We hope that in this hour of Cuba's need, you will find it possible to respond in a spirit that reflects its people’s generosity.

There are two ways to send in donations. Either way, you will receive a charitable tax receipt:

1. Send cheques made payable to the “Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund”, clearly stating “For Cuba Hurricane Relief” on the memo line, together with your name, address and telephone number. Envelopes should be addressed to Sharon Skup, Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund, 56 Riverwood Terrace, Bolton, Ontario, L7E 1S4

2. Make out cheques to your local Cuba solidarity committee with your name, address and phone number, clearly stating “For Cuba Hurricane Relief”. The local committee will send one cheque together with a list of the names, addresses, phone numbers and the amount of the donation of the individual donors to the Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund. Tax receipts will then be issued to individual donors.

One hundred per cent of your donations will go to Cuba. Last year they went as top quality roofing materials to the twice hit Pinar del Río province. This year Cienfuegos seems to be in greatest need. We hope that Cuba will be spared further harm from hurricanes during this season.

Yours in solidarity,

Keith Ellis, Chair Cuba Hurricane Fund Committee Canadian Network on Cuba