This morning, the “Rotta su Cuba” convoy delivered over 500 kg of medicines and school supplies to the Arturo Montori Céspedes primary school and the Clínico Quirúrgico Docente Calixto García hospital in Havana. A concrete, but above all symbolic, gesture: a sign of solidarity with the Cuban people.

The supplies were purchased thanks to the solidarity of thousands of people and the “Energy for Life” campaign, aimed at breaking the isolation imposed by the US embargo and opening up concrete channels of solidarity.

The country is undergoing a deep crisis, exacerbated by the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States, which is putting the entire system under severe strain. Cuban hospitals are operating amid severe shortages of resources and essential medicines, whilst schools have only just reopened their doors for the new academic year, facing the same structural difficulties.

“This visit strengthens the friendship between the Italian and Cuban peoples. We know that Cuba is not alone,” stated the director of Calixto García Hospital. “The number of patients has not changed, but the lack of resources and supplies makes it harder every day to meet their needs. It is difficult to pinpoint which sector suffers most under the weight of the blockade, but the resource most affected — on which everything else depends — is the people. The damage is also psychological: working in these conditions is a daily challenge.”
“We plan the use of the few available resources according to the condition and the urgency, setting clinical priorities, but also based on the availability of electricity. Among the main causes of infant mortality is the lack of resources for antenatal check-ups for pregnant women: we risk failing to detect infections, or not having the antibiotics to treat them. There is a lack of resources for treating complications at birth and in the early years of life, and there is a shortage of vaccines — which is why electricity has been prioritised for maternal and child health hospitals. Every little bit makes a difference: for us, a life saved is a victory.”