Amid growing economic pressure on Cuba from the United States, a coalition of progressive advocacy groups announced Thursday their intention to form a humanitarian aid flotilla in Cuba called the Nuestra América Flotilla.
The announcement came shortly after several airlines canceled flights to Cuba due to a lack of jet fuel available on the island. Canadian airlines Air Canada, Air Transat and Westjet have all suspended flights to Cuba. Russian airlines Rossiya and Nordwind also suspended operations.
Read more: The first airlines began canceling flights to Cuba after jet fuel shortages were announced.
Cuba’s severe fuel shortage occurred due to the recent strengthening of economic sanctions against the United States. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order labeling Cuba a national security threat. The order imposed tariffs on any country that sold or supplied oil to the country.
U.S.-Cuban tensions have escalated significantly since U.S. special forces arrested Venezuelan President and Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro and the resulting economically severe loss of Venezuelan oil supplies to the island, with the United States continuing to threaten regime change on the island.
In response, several countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany, began warning their citizens to avoid all but essential travel to Cuba.
The economic crisis goes beyond fuel shortages. A humanitarian crisis is unfolding on the island as hospitals are postponing surgeries, medicine and food are starting to run low, and energy rationing appears imminent.
Some governments are trying to ease humanitarian pressures. Mexico and China have both sent humanitarian aid to the island, and Chile has said it will also send aid through the United Nations. However, Nuestra América Flotilla is a non-governmental venture comprised of activists and advocates from around the world.
Read more: Chile provides $1 million in aid to Cuba amid economic crisis
The project was reportedly inspired by the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a group of humanitarian aid flotillas that sailed to Gaza to break the Israeli Navy’s blockade of the Palestinian territories. One of the organizers of the Cuban flotilla was David Adler, who helped organize the Sumud project.
According to the flotilla’s official website, the group will soon “sail across the Caribbean in solidarity with the Cuban people… (to) break the siege, save lives, and stand up for the cause of Cuban self-determination.”
Despite the inspiration of the Sumud project, aid deliveries from Mexico and China suggest there is currently no sign that the United States will use military force to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching the island. Conversely, the Israeli Navy intercepted the GSF before it reached the Gaza coast.
Major organizations participating in this flotilla include Progressive International, an international left-wing activist group, and Code Pink, a women-led grassroots peace and social justice organization.
The flotilla’s mission has received support from a variety of leading international figures, including Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, Colombian Congresswoman Maria Fernanda Carrascal, and U.S. Congresswoman Rachida Tlaib.
Prominent American left-wing streamer Hasan Piker confirmed his participation in the project. There was also speculation that Greta Thunberg, a prominent Swedish climate activist, would also participate.
Dr Stephen Wilkinson, one of Britain’s leading experts on Cuba and US-Cuban relations and director of the International Institute for Cuban Studies at Buckingham University, supported the flotilla’s mission in a conversation with: Latin America Report.
“It is essential that people support the flotilla. Anything that can be done to raise public awareness of what is happening is essential. When the term ‘primaryization’ is used to describe what the United States is doing, it is not an exaggeration,” Dr Wilkinson emphasized.
“(The United States’) policy of tightening sanctions is deliberately causing famine in Cuba. The flotilla is a noble act because the American people will be forever tainted by crimes that will never be forgiven. If Cuba falls, they will lose their country, but America will lose its soul,” he concluded.
The flotilla will hold its first international meeting on Sunday to coordinate logistics, engagement and securing humanitarian supplies.
Featured image: Nuestra America Flotilla’s logo
Image source: Progressive International via X
patent: Creative Commons License
