Cuba Receives New Food Aid from Brazil and Spain

HAVANA TIMES, March 13 – The governments of Spain and Brazil announced the arrival in Havana this Sunday of a first shipload of food aid jointly offered to Cuba after the island was hit by powerful Hurricanes Gustav and Ike last year and which caused some US $10 billion in losses.

The donation is a result of an operation in which the South American nation provides the food – rice, powdered milk and seeds -, and Spain is in charge of its transportation to Cuba, which assumes the customs arrangements, storage and distribution, reported IPS.

Spain, and especially Brazil are both countries that have encouraged the Obama administration to make a break with Washington’s half century policy of hostility towards Cuba, and put an end to the economic blockade that has thwarted much of the island’s development.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva meets in Washington over the weekend with President Obama and one of the topics of discussion is expected to be US Cuba-policy.

Lula has suggested to Obama that a good starting point to mend relations with the continent would be to take a approach towards Cuba.