People walk down the street during a power outage caused by Hurricane Oscar in Havana, Cuba, on October 20, 2024. Cuba has been experiencing widespread power outages since Friday, October 18, 2024. (source: TASR/AP)
Slovakia has sent €200,000 in humanitarian aid to Cuba, a gesture Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár (Smer) first announced in May, citing the country’s longstanding commitment to aid in crises. Cuba, Blanár noted, faces a “severe economic situation” compounded by the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, relentless rains, and landslides.
“People there simply lack enough food,” he told parliament.
The aid is to be distributed through the UN World Food Programme.
To get a local perspective on Slovakia’s aid — a 60-ton donation of powdered milk — the Denník N daily spoke to Cuban citizens about Blanár’s assessment and the crisis facing the island.
Cuba, which ruled by a one-party communist regime, is marked by long queues for basic necessities, rolling blackouts due to failing power infrastructure, and the incarceration over a thousand political opponents of the regime.
Prime Minister Robert Fico plans to visit Cuba in the near future, seeking to “strengthen comprehensive cooperation”. The Slovak politician also visited Cuba in 2018.
“This aid disregards the reality of Cuba,” María Matienzo Puerto, an independent Cuban journalist and author, told Denník N. She noted that landslides are not a typical occurrence in Cuba, and argued the crisis extends far beyond the pandemic, having gripped the island for decades. “Cuba has been mired in economic crisis for 65 years due to misgovernance,” she added.
Cuban historian and activist Manuel Cuesta Morúa described Cuba as a “beggar state” that has perpetually relied on aid. “Governments like Slovakia’s reinforce this by failing to tell Cuban authorities that things would improve if they took responsibility for the crisis and implemented reforms,” he said, calling for improvements in human rights. Morúa stressed that constructive criticism is possible, “friendly states can make friendly comments. That’s what is missing in gestures of solidarity.”
In September, Blanár met Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in New York, but they discussed the prime minister’s upcoming visit instead of problems in Cuba.
Cuban historian and writer Dimas Castellanos observed that Slovakia’s donation might bring “a four-day relief”, but argues the island deserves to live “with dignity, not on charity.”
The Cuban dictatorship frequently blames the US embargo for its woes. The recent failure of a power plant, which plunged households into darkness again, was the latest example of the ongoing crisis there.
