A container with food, clothes, supplies, wheelchairs, and other humanitarian aid sent by a Christian organization based in London to a church in Cuba has been confiscated by the Castro dictatorship. The communist regime claims the humanitarian shipment violated government regulations, and it is the State’s sovereign right to confiscate and take ownership of the products.
The Department of Religious Institutions and Fraternal Associations of the Cuban regime seized a container of humanitarian aid sent to the Evangelical Church of Cuba “Free in Jesus Christ” by the Christian organization International Aid Trust, based in London, England.
In an audio message addressed to the directors of the religious organization, which CubaNet accessed, Ignacio Valdivia O’Farrill, an analyst at the Department of Religious Institutions and Fraternal Associations, stated that “the seizure of the container is a sovereign decision of the Cuban state.”
According to the official, “there is an approved procedure which stipulates that goods entering the country are accepted or not based on their origin, characteristics, and purposes. When some of these factors do not align with the approved criteria, the State can decide to confiscate them, as was the case here.”
Additionally, Valdivia O’Farrill justified the seizure by saying that “there were many inconsistencies in the import procedures by those who handled the documentation.” However, he did not clarify what the alleged inconsistencies were and reiterated that the decision to seize the container, “with or without documents,” was “final.”
Among the seized items were a generator, 15 Singer sewing machines, three electric lawn mowers, food, clothes and shoes, household appliances, mattresses, musical instruments (guitars, ukuleles, violins, flutes, tambourines, keyboards, electric drums, wired microphones), toys, wheelchairs, crutches, and walkers. The donation is valued at $6,552 USD, including shipping costs.
This incident is just one in an endless stream of criminal theft carried out by the communist regime over its 65-year history. The Castro dictatorship has stolen Cuba from the Cuban people, and continues to steal anything that is sent to help the Cuban people.