Cuba urges true cooperation with Haiti, without external meddling

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 15 (ACN) Haiti needs real and sufficient assistance and cooperation for its reconstruction and progress, without external meddling that has not been the solution, but the cause of its problems, says a statement issued today by the Cuban foreign ministry.

The statement, published on the agency's website, ratifies the solidarity of Cuba with that neighboring country, in which there is a serious multidimensional crisis that worsens social instability, poverty and structural underdevelopment caused by centuries of colonial and neocolonial plundering and foreign interventions.

In view of this situation in Haiti, the Cuban foreign ministry refers, Cuba maintains contacts with regional actors, to whom it has reaffirmed that this people has the right to find a peaceful, sustainable and lasting solution to the challenges it faces, on the basis of full respect for its self-determination, sovereignty and independence.

Cuban government maintains constant communication and permanent attention to the 53 health collaborators who remain in southern Haiti, where the situation is calmer, as well as to the other seven who, together with the Cuban Embassy staff, are well and have taken the necessary measures for their safety and protection, the statement read.

It also emphasizes that through the Havana Embassy to Port-au-Prince and the foreign ministry, communication has also been maintained with Cubans living in Haiti or in transit and their families, and their situation is constantly being followed up.
We transmit the Declaration in its entirety:

The Republic of Haiti is suffering a serious multidimensional crisis that worsens social instability, poverty and structural underdevelopment caused by centuries of colonial and neocolonial plunder and foreign interventions.

The international community owes a great debt to Haiti, a Caribbean nation that was the protagonist of the first independence, anti-slavery and social revolution of the continent, which has suffered the cruel and selfish reprisals of the imperialist powers for more than two centuries.
Haiti needs real and sufficient assistance and cooperation for its reconstruction and progress, without external meddling, which has not been the solution, but the cause of its problems.

Cuba has provided solidarity and selfless cooperation to Haiti in areas of great impact for its people, such as public health, education, agriculture, sports, energy, water resources and other key areas for the country's social and economic stability. 448,355 Haitians have become literate through Cuban programs and 1,606 young people have been educated in our universities.

Our country has maintained uninterruptedly, since 1998, a brigade of health professionals and technicians alongside the Haitian people, who with their humanistic and altruistic work have attended to 38,580,215 cases, performed 774,236 surgical procedures and 73,331 ophthalmological treatments as part of "Operation Miracle", assisted 204,090 births, administered 1,014,806 doses of vaccines and saved 252,433 lives. This cooperation has been sustained even in the most difficult moments of that country, including the foreign intervention of 2004, the earthquakes of 2010 and 2021, the cholera epidemics and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the current situation.

Haitian people appreciate and recognize the humanitarian, selfless and altruistic service provided by Cuban collaborators in the difficult circumstances in which they have always had to work.

Cuban government maintains constant communication and permanent attention to the 53 health collaborators who remain in the south of Haiti, where the situation is calmer, as well as to the other seven who, together with the Cuban embassy staff, are well and have taken the necessary measures for their safety and protection.

Through our Embassy to Port-au-Prince and from the ministry of foreign affairs, communication has also been maintained with the Cubans residing in Haiti or in transit and their families, and their situation is constantly being followed up.

Cuba maintains contacts with regional actors regarding the situation in Haiti, to whom it has reaffirmed that the Haitian people have the right to find a peaceful, sustainable and lasting solution to the challenges they face, based on full respect for their self-determination, sovereignty and independence.
The brotherly Haitian people will always be able to count on Cuba's solidarity support.