Thousands of people in US send 800 tons of urgently needed flour to Cuba
By Peoples Dispatch
On August 30, US-based activists delivered 800 tons of flour to Cuba via the “Let Cuba Live: Bread for our Neighbors” campaign. This campaign has been months in the making, with the US-based Peoples Forum raising hundreds of thousands in donations, and intends to offset the effects of the deadly regime of US sanctions and the blockade against Cuba. Over 1,300 people donated to the campaign.
“The concept of the campaign is simple: Cuba is our neighbor, and we can’t let our neighbors go hungry,” said Manolo De Los Santos, Executive Director of The People’s Forum. “This hunger is imposed directly by the White House, and Biden could end it right away by allowing Cuba to trade freely.”
Cuba is facing a significant food crisis due to the ongoing US economic war against the socialist island nation. Although, the US State Department claims that its blockade of Cuba exempts shipments of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods. However, even US officials agree this does not reflect reality. As US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said back in March, “There’s a significant impediment to trade in Cuba because of [US] legislation that requires payment in advance in cash in US dollars which makes it very, very difficult for a lot of [agricultural] trade to take place.”
Campaign organizers themselves reported facing significant challenges in sourcing the bread for Cuba, despite receiving donations from thousands of people of conscience in the US.
“The campaign organizers reached out to 14 different grain producers in the US to purchase the massive order but received not a single positive response. In order to successfully complete the delivery, the grain had to be shipped from Turkey and suffered delays because of the US government’s policy of extreme and arbitrary harassment of Cuba’s foreign trade, which is meant to create desperation for the people of Cuba and has brutal consequences,” Bread for our Neighbors activists reported.
