ON August 13, just when our people had initiated recovery efforts in the wake of   the devastating Hurricane Charley, Richard Boucher, acting spokesman for the U.S. State Department, issued a press release announcing that the United States laments the damages caused by Hurricane Charley and expresses its solidarity with the Cuban people.

With total cynicism and hypocrisy, the State Department statement continued as follows, “The Cuban people can count on the support of the United States during these difficult times. We are working to help the Cuban people with the humanitarian crisis that it is confronting today."

As yet another demonstration of the empire’s disdain towards our country and its people, Mr. Boucher announced that the U.S. Interests Section would hand out the ridiculous and humiliating sum of $50,000 from U.S. government funds, with the objective of “attending to the humanitarian needs of the Cuban people.”

Finally, in a shameless manner, the spokesman urged the Cuban government to permit the delivery of this aid directly to the Cuban people.

Subsequently, on August 16, Mr. James Cason, head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, told the North American director of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs that he had a fund of $50,000, an amount available to U.S. embassies elsewhere in the world for aid during natural disasters and other emergencies, and that he wished to deliver it to various “independent” non-governmental Cuban organizations to help confront damages left by the cyclone.

The U.S. official received a firm response in which this new affront was totally rejected.

At this time, it was also indicated to Cason that it was extremely cynical to offer an irrelevant sum of money when that government is trying to economically strangle the entire Cuban people via its criminal blockade of our country.

Because we have been entirely immersed in recovery efforts after the damages left by the hurricane, we opted to keep this issue at diplomatic level. Nevertheless, the fact that some international press agencies have reflected the Cuban position with respect to this issue more or less accurately has obliged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publicly confirm that for the Cuban people and government this offer is totally unacceptable, as it shamelessly ignores the damage caused over more than four decades by the economic warfare of successive administrations against our country.

It is obvious that the U.S. government is suffering from total amnesia, given that there is no other way to understand how it can attempt to assume the role of “benefactor” of the Cuban people, when it has just reinforced – once again – its cruel blockade by bringing into force numerous restrictions to the extent of affecting relations between Cuban citizens and their families resident in the United States.

The aforementioned U.S. government intention to place these resources into the hands of “organizations independent” of the Cuban government, clearly reveals the shady purposes of this maneuver, which have nothing to do with any genuine interest in the well-being of the hurricane victims.

Cuba will not accept any supposed aid from the government of a country that is attacking us and attempting to bring us to our knees through hunger and need.

Cuba will move forwards through the efforts and dedication of its people and its Revolution.

No Cuban has been – or ever will be – left unprotected in the wake of a natural disaster or other emergency, whatever its nature or magnitude. The humanism and solidarity of the project that we defend would not allow that.

Havana, August 21, 2004

(Granma)