According to a State Department spokesperson, in order for the U.S. to provide disaster assistance to any country, it needs an official request from that nation’s government according to standard diplomatic protocols. Havana is of course up to their usual propagandist tactics. It’s alleged that Johanna Tablada of MINREX took to Twitter and accused the U.S. of lying. Meanwhile El Singao is in the meeting to define the strategy for the final blow to the fire. The usual regime worshiping self-serving useful idiots have taken to Twitter to pile on. Code Pinko is fund raising, asking donors to help raise $50,000 for the victims of Cuba’s disaterious fire, citing Cuba’s historical generous solidarity with the world.
No mention of the billions in cash the regime’s collected for that solidarity.
Nora Gámez Torres, reporting in the Miami Herald via The Finger Lakes Times:
Cuba has not officially requested US help to put out oil fire, State Department says
U.S. firefighting experts have provided technical advice to Cuban officials regarding the fire at an oil storage facility at the port of Matanzas, but that is as far as the cooperation has gone because the Cuban government has not requested other types of assistance from the United States, the State Department says.
The clarification comes after a Cuban diplomat suggested on social media the island’s government asked for help from the international community, but that it was the Biden administration’s decision to offer only technical guidance.
After domestic teams could not control a fire that started Friday night in a crude-oil tank, Cuban authorities asked for help from “friendly countries,” they said, and received foam, chemical agents, pumps and other technical equipment from Mexico and Venezuela.
Many Cubans and Cuban Americans also called on the Cuban government to accept assistance from the U.S.
On Saturday, the U.S. embassy in Havana said it was in contact with the Cuban government regarding the fire, and Cuba’s leader Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly thanked “the offer of technical advice from the U.S.” on Twitter.
But for the U.S. to provide disaster assistance to any country, such as a response team or equipment to put out a fire, it needs an official request from that nation’s government, according to standard diplomatic protocols.
“U.S. firefighting experts with experience dealing with oil storage facilities have talked to Cuban officials to offer technical advice,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We have had general discussions with the government of Cuba on this tragic disaster. However, the government of Cuba has not formally requested U.S. government assistance.”
The State Department also said that the U.S. embargo was not an obstacle to providing aid to Cuba in case of disasters. The U.S. embassy in Havana said it wanted to facilitate sending humanitarian aid to the island and provided a contact email to those interested: CubaHumanitarian@state.gov.
Cuban authorities have not said if they formally requested assistance from the U.S.
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Right. Because Code Pink cares SO much about Cuba, far more than “those people,” and almost as much as the New York Times. But I’m fine, really. I always retch violently when I feel seriously nauseous.