Cuban Foreign Minister Thanks International Community for Aid after Devastation of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike BRAZIL, October 7 (RHC)—Cuba’s Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque thanked the international community for their assistance after the island was hard hit by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. “We have received expressions of solidarity from the international community”, said Perez Roque during a television interview by Paraná´s Educational Channel in Rio de Janeiro. ´ “I would like to thank in particular the disposition shown by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva”, who was in constant contact with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro and offered emergency humanitarian aid to the Cuban people, said Felipe Perez Roque. He recalled that many other countries also offered assistance and in particular spoke about Venezuela’s cooperation and assistance which “do not have precedents in the history of Cuba and the personal disposition of President Hugo Chavez”. The top Cuban diplomat pointed out that there are incredible examples of small nations like East Timor whose government donated 500 000 dollars to Cuba. There are other governments whose donations were amazing. “We are, said the Cuban Foreign Minister, grateful and are moved not on the amount of the aid but its human value and intrinsic solidarity. “We are receiving lots of cooperation, but we know that the major effort must be carried out by ourselves”, said Perez Roque. He said that the two hurricanes that hit Cuba in barely 8 days is historic and characterized it as a devastating natural disaster, which Perez Roque blames on the consequences of climatic changes and the rise of the temperatures in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The Cuban government official referred to the destruction of over 444 000 homes, of them 63 000 totally destroyed and serious damage to the country’s agriculture.
The hurricane left loses of over 5 billion dollars and this will force us in the future to import more food to guarantee the supplies to the population and also enormous efforts in the reconstruction currently underway, said the Cuban Foreign Minister.(Cubaminrex- RHC) |