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A shipment of one thousand water filters and one thousand mattresses left the airport in Frankfurt heading to Cuba on Monday, as reported by the German Embassy in Havana on its official social media.
The diplomatic mission detailed that the supplies, provided by the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), are part of Berlin's support in response to the humanitarian emergency caused by Hurricane Melissa, which worsened the already complex situation for thousands of Cuban families.
In its post, the embassy announced that the shipment has "been packaged and is on its way" to the island, emphasizing that “hurricane Melissa has further worsened the difficult situation in Cuba” and that Germany will continue to provide its support. The published images show the humanitarian cargo being loaded onto a plane heading to the island, where eastern Cuba remains the region most severely affected by the cyclone.
Although many users appreciated the German government's gesture of solidarity, the post sparked an avalanche of skeptical and upset comments regarding the way the Cuban regime typically handles international donations.
Some expressed their hope that the aid “truly reaches those affected in the east of the country” and “doesn't end up being the same as always,” while others regretted that “everything ends up being sold in dollar stores” or “stays in the hands of the leaders and the hotels.”
Among the comments, one could read: "One must be naive to believe that those filters and mattresses will reach the population," or "What the people need is freedom, not donations that only serve to justify the government."
There were also messages from German citizens concerned about the transparency of the process, one of whom pointed out that “it would be good to know and see that this humanitarian aid reaches those affected directly,” reminding that “this aid is funded by taxpayers' money.”
The German shipment joins multiple international aid deliveries that have arrived in Cuba since early November, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, one of the most destructive storms to hit the island in recent years.
Among them stands out the donation of food and materials sent by China, which included cookies, noodles, mattresses, solar lighting equipment, and galvanized steel coils intended for roof repairs in the most affected provinces.
The United Nations (UN) also sent 4,375 tarpaulins for damaged homes as part of an assistance plan valued at 74.2 million dollars aimed at supporting one million people in eastern Cuba.
For its part, Colombia delivered 95 cubic meters of drinking water in Santiago de Cuba, as part of a humanitarian shipment of 246 tons, a gesture that also sparked debate among Cubans due to the precarious state of the water supply system in the country.
Although Cuban authorities have publicly expressed gratitude for the solidarity of the international community, citizen distrust is on the rise due to the lack of transparency in the distribution of resources. In recent posts about other donations, users reported that some of the supplies have ended up for sale in foreign currency shops or allocated to state facilities, instead of being provided for free to those affected.
The hurricane Melissa left over 90,000 homes destroyed, severe agricultural damage, and a landscape of humanitarian crisis in the eastern provinces. In this context, social media has become a space for denouncing and demanding a fair and transparent distribution of the aid coming from abroad.
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