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Cuba rejects U.S. “aid with strings”

HAVANA: The Cuban government has for a second time rejected the U.S. offer of post hurricane aid with strings attached, saying the country will overcome the situation. The U.S. said on Tuesday they were ready to send aid to Cuba — but only on the condition that it is accompanied by experts to evaluate the damage.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said the country had plenty of experts for evaluation work.

The statement said the White House had expressed “its sorrow for the damages produced by Hurricane Ike to the Cuban people, and insists on sending to the island a humanitarian evaluation team to inspect the affected areas.” Yet “if the U.S. government really wants to help the Cuban people, it should allow basic commodities to sell to Cuba ... such as materials to repair houses and to restore the electricity network.”

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry reiterated its request to Washington to lift the embargo preventing U.S. companies from offering Cuba private commercial credits to buy food. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Cuba in 1962, seeking to deprive it of foreign exchange and hasten the end of Communism.

Meanwhile, Cuba raised its death toll from the urricane to seven. The Communist Party newspaper Granma reported the death of a 55-year-old man who evacuated but returned to his apartment along Havana’s seaside boulevard before authorities said it was safe. Part of his old building collapsed, trapping him among the rubble. Ike is now churning towards Texas, U.S. — AP, Xinhua

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