The plane carrying medical aid in memory of Lester Cabrera Chavez and Graciliano Diaz Bartolo, the heroic Cuban doctors (A. Puccio)

A private plane bound for Cuba departed from Milan Malpensa Airport this morning with a load of more than 200 cubic meters of Italian Solidarity Aid to support the fight against COVID-19.
This donation, amounting to about 1.5 million euros, is the result of the #PoniéndoleCorazónACuba campaign, launched by associations dealing with the island in response to the appeal of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to put his heart in Cuba to help address the efforts of the Cuban authorities and people under difficult conditions to intensify the economic and commercial blockade and the financial situation of the United States, in combination with the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, in particular the rise caused by the delta spread. The type of virus that causes it.

The broad and positive response to this appeal is also a reflection of the broad gratitude that exists in Italy for the work of the Cuban doctors and nurses who supported the Italian regions of Lombardy and Piedmont in 2020 during the health crisis caused by the pandemic. The solidarity initiative from Italy in support of the Cuban people, #PoniéndoleCorazónACuba, is dedicated in particular to the memory of Lester Cabrera Chavez and Graciliano Diaz Bartolo, who recently died of Covid 19 and belongs to the Henri Reeve Brigades who, in the most brutal of the epidemic in Italy, provided health care in the cities of Turin And straight cream.

The donation, consisting of medicines, equipment and medical materials, will go mainly to hospitals in Havana, Matanzas, Holguín, Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Ciego de Avila.
The Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba (AICEC) was the main promoter and coordinator of this project, which was supported, thanks to its own fundraising campaign, by the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL). As well as the National Coordinator of Cubans Residing in Italy (CONACI), the Association of Solidarity with Cuba “La Villetta”, as well as the Piedmont Region, the Sant’Egidio Community, the United Nations Development Program – PADIT, the Association of AsiCubaUmbria and ARCI Umbria, the CubaVa Group, Nuestra América – the Italian branch Defense of Humanity Network, Youth of the Changing Path, Centro Studi Italia Cuba, ARCI, Tren de la Memoria, Terra del Fuoco del Trentino and Filorosso ODV, among others contributed to this important donation. The contributions of the Spanish Sudepaz Association, the Cuban-French Cooperation and the HUMANIMAUX Unit in Marseille, France have been added to this burden.
During the press conference held at Milan Airport, before the flight departure, the Cuban Ambassador to Italy, Jose Carlos Rodriguez Ruiz, thanked everyone who contributed to this initiative, expressing that it is “a wonderful form of love and solidarity with the Cuban people who are facing the Covid-19 epidemic, in amidst the criminal embargo of the United States.”

Rodriguez added that Cuba will overcome, as it has shown in other difficult moments in its history, the current complex situation, which is characterized by the peak of the epidemic, the strengthening of the embargo and the strong influence of both the Cuban economy and society. The Cuban people will resist and will be able to overcome difficulties. The challenges that Cuba must face are not only those of Cubans, but those of all those who share the ideal of a better world. On behalf of Cuba, he thanked all those who contributed to this precious gesture of solidarity.

Andrea Puccio – www.occhisulmondo.info