[antiwar-van] IMPORTANT: Appeal for Hurricane Relief and Reconstruction in Cuba

[Tamara Hansen]

IMPORTANT: Appeal for Hurricane Relief and Reconstruction in Cuba

Dear Antiwar-Van List Member,

The letter below is an important appeal for donations towards relief and reconstruction in Cuba after Hurricane Gustav. Written by Keith Ellis (professor, author, poet and chair of the Cuba Hurricane Fund Committee of the Canadian Network on Cuba) before hurricane Ike hit Cuba, this passionate letter maintains its important demand for support and solidarity for Cuba in this most crucial time. It is both an appeal for funds and an important letter announcing the high spirit and determination of the Cuban people to reconstruct and rebuild their devastated homes, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure. As the people of Cuba and the revolutionary Cuban government are uniting and rebuilding their country, we must lend a supporting hand!

UPDATE FROM HURRICANE IKE: According to AIN, a Cuban News agency, “An official report by the Cuban National Civil Defense Council highlights the efforts taken in the evacuation of more than 2.5 million people by way of 10,000 transportation vehicles.” Unfortunately, during what was a very successful campaign for safety and saving lives during Hurricane Ike, seven people were killed in tragic accidents. Now Cuba fights to rebuild the more than 320,000 houses that have been damaged or destroyed after both Hurricanes, this is of course made immeasurably more difficult because of the illegal blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States government.

As outlined below, donations for Cuba Hurricane relief are being accepted by local Cuba solidarity groups and will be contributed to the national campaign to raise funds, organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba. Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) is appealing for your help in this most important campaign, please contact us at 778-882-5223 or cubacommunities at yahoo.ca with contributions or ideas for further fundraising. 

There are two ways to send in donations (for both you can receive a charitable tax receipt):

1- Mail your cheque payable to “Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba” with your name, address and phone number, clearly stating "For Cuba Hurricane Relief". These donations will be added together with other donations from Vancouver and sent 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 (Registered charitable organization # 88876 9197). 
Then send cheques to:
PO Box 56067
1st Ave RPO, 1690 Nanaimo Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V5L 5E2

2- Send your cheque 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: Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund, Att: S. Skup, Treasurer, 56 Riverwood Terrace, Bolton, Ontario, L7E 1S4



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Appeal for Assistance for
Hurricane Gustav Relief for Cuba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

- Cuba Hurricane Fund Committee, Canadian Network on Cuba -
September 2, 2008


Dear Friends,

As you already know, Cuba has once more suffered the fierce attack of a hurricane. This one, Gustav, is considered to be the most devastating in the last forty years. Having caused severe flooding in its early stages in eastern Cuba, it grew in strength and size in the warm Caribbean waters and, after demolishing the special municipality of the Isle of Youth with its awful force, invaded Pinar del Río, Cuba's most westerly province. By this time it had achieved a diameter of some 450 kilometers with the most destructive winds and rains packed into the eastern side of the monster. Although Pinar del Río bore the brunt of the damage, ravaged by sustained winds of 240 kph, with gusts as high as 350 kph, the area of damage extended to include the provinces of Havana, City of Havana and Matanzas.

The damage touched all sectors of the economic and social life of the region. In large parts of Pinar del Río and Isla de la Juventud, houses, schools, hospitals and other public buildings that weren't demolished, lost their roofs or suffered other kinds of damage. This means that warehouses that stored supplies and commodities such as rice, sugar, flour, tobacco, could not avoid exposing them to the elements. Cultural and recreational facilities were damaged or destroyed. Ferris wheels were turned into mangled metal, as were transmission towers used for electricity or communications. Damaged high-tension power lines, roads and bridges added to the toll. The agricultural sector has suffered severely. Hundreds of hectares of bananas fell early, as did citrus fruit. Sugar cane was massively affected, and sophisticated irrigation equipment was ruined. The part of the fishing industry based in the Isla de la Juventud was gravely hurt.

The good news is that -- thanks to the precautionary measures, in which Cuba leads the world and which involved moving a quarter of a million people to safe shelter -- not a single life was lost. Five lobster fishermen who were missing at sea for a time were found after an intensive air and sea search.

Cuba, like other Caribbean countries and parts of the United States, occupies a geographical space that is in the path of hurricanes. This space is now more prone than ever to disastrous hurricanes as a result of climate change. Hardly has Gustav passed than Hanna and Ike have appeared on the weather map like a caravan of doom. That Cuba should be a victim of this increased frequency is a striking injustice, since Cuba is the country least to be blamed for the deteriorating climatic conditions that fuel hurricanes. Let us remember that when the World Wildlife Fund in 2006 evaluated countries throughout the world to determine how they ranked with regard to sustainable development, based on economic and human development and protection of the environment, they found that Cuba was the only country that met the criteria.

Hurricanes will continue to batter Cuba. The island can frustrate them only to a certain extent, chiefly through deepening scientific knowledge of their behaviour and the achievement of a social organization based on solidarity, trust, egalitarianism and fairness. The day after Gustav passed, roads were being cleared and swept, food was being shipped to affected areas from provinces that were better supplied, linemen were arriving in Pinar del Río from Santiago to work "as long as is necessary," and public health brigades were ensuring salutary conditions. Building materials were being distributed to those who needed repairs to their homes. The energy revolution has introduced technologies that have resulted in speeding up the restoration of electricity after damage to the grid. The presidents of the Defense Councils of Pinar del Río and Isla de la Juventud, both women, are being received in the various communities they visit, with cheerful
demonstrations of confidence in them and in the Revolution. A badly damaged hospital in one of the communities in Pinar del Río was the place of birth of a boy during the hurricane. He was named Gustavo for the hurricane and David for the Cuban people's spirit of fighting against great odds.

That fighting spirit must also be imbued with the patience of Sisyphus, because the unwanted meteorological phenomenon stubbornly recurs. A previous CNC donation went precisely to one of the again affected Pinar del Río communities to provide roofs for some 200 houses. We hope that these roofs have survived. The fighting spirit must also be buttressed by financial resources.

At this time of writing, two days after the disaster, the total cost of the damage has not yet been assessed, but it will surely be billions of dollars. Even though Cuba has not requested aid from us, the friends of Cuba, led by the constituent members of the Canadian Network on Cuba, will want, as they usually do, to do everything possible to help. In view of the great expense, we should imaginatively seek out new additional sources of funds-from different levels of government, farmer's associations, trade unions, cultural groups-and in general widen the circle of the friends of Cuba. We should work to include people who are indignant at injustice, those who understand, for example, that one of the main reasons why the Bush administration let some of its citizens die rather than accept Cuban medical help at the time of Katrina was because they wanted no easing of their brutal embargo, even when Cuba was faced with terrible natural disasters. Let us
approach Canadians with some of the information included in this piece and, as José Martí would do, believing in their goodness.

The need for funds to recover from hurricane Gustav is urgent. We aim to forward to Cuba an initial contribution of $100,000 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 the generosity and determination of the Cuban people.

One hundred per cent of your donation will go to Cuba either directly or in shipping requested materials to help in the reconstruction.

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

1) Send your cheque 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: Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund, Att: S. Skup,Treasurer, 56 Riverwood Terrace, Bolton, Ontario, L7E 1S4

2) Make out your cheque 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 (Registered charitable organization # 88876 9197). Tax receipts will then be issued to individual donors.

Yours in solidarity,

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



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