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A donation from Martinique arrived in Santiago de Cuba with a shipment of 14.5 tons of medicines, food, clothing, and essential items.
The donation from the locality of Lamentin, Martinique, will be used to support the population affected by Hurricane Melissa, official media reported.
The shipment includes medicines, hygiene products, and toys for children, some provided by the medical cooperation from that locality and others purchased thanks to monetary donations from citizens of Martinique, said Judith Laborieux, Deputy Mayor of Civil Security in Lamentin.
For her part, Yaneidis Hechavarría, president of the Municipal Defense Council, stated that the "donation will help alleviate the complex situation facing the municipality, especially in the healthcare sector."
The medications will be distributed to healthcare institutions and, through them, will reach the population directly, assured the regime's official, who expressed gratitude for the gesture.
But the reality of donations is different. Cubans report that aid arrives incomplete, resources are delivered in poor condition, or never reach those who truly need them, while social workers manage the processes with complete opacity.
Recently, a supposed social assistance to an 86-year-old man in San Luis, Santiago de Cuba triggered a wave of outrage among neighbors, family members, and social media users, as it once again highlighted the failing state care system and the humiliating treatment faced by individuals in extreme vulnerability.
The case was reported by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who informed that Roberto Flores Baños, a resident of the Leonor community in Dos Caminos de San Luis, received a "donation" arranged by a social worker that consisted solely of a worn-out jacket and an old pair of trousers, both of which had visible stains and tears.
The released images show the extremely thin elderly man, barefoot, sitting in a worn-out wheelchair in a very poor house.
The complaint on Facebook states that the social worker demanded the signing of four documents, without explaining their content or allowing them to be read clearly.
At the end of November, a mother claimed that the food donations for vulnerable children and the elderly do not reach their intended recipients in Santiago de Cuba, and that some of these resources end up in the hands of officials and social workers.
The woman, Yurisleidis Remedios, reported that food modules were only being distributed to children aged 0 to 4 years, leaving older children without assistance, which she described as a "theft of childhood."
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