Chinese President Hu Jintao landed in Cuba Nov. 18 as part of a tour of the American continent.
|
|
On his 36-hour stop in Cuba, Hu signed 12 new cooperation accords, extended a $70 million loan to help modernize Cuban hospitals and gave an additional $10 million to help finance other social projects throughout the island. The Chinese president put off Cuba’s debt payments to China for 10 years
China additionally agreed to continue to maintain and expand their importation of Cuban sugar and nickel, as well as increasing the sale of agriculture products to Cuba. China is Cuba’s second largest trading partner in the world with a volume of over $2.3 billion dollars in 2007.
Hu met with revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who later wrote, “He was warm, friendly, modest and made patent his sentiments of affection.” In the meeting, Castro showed his admiration for the Chinese people and their fight against imperialism and underdevelopment and their recent struggles against the devastating earthquakes.
China’s assistance is much needed by Cuba. The hurricane season had a devastating effect on the island, causing losses of $10 billion in homes, infrastructure and agriculture.
The challenges facing Cuba have been greatly magnified by the 46-year-old blockade imposed by the U.S. government on the island. Washington has refused to end the blockade despite the enormous hardships created by the recent natural disasters.
On Oct. 29, the U.N. General Assembly voted an overwhelming 185-3 for ending the economic blockade of Cuba. The United States and its two client states Israel and the Marshall Islands voted against the measure. Since the blockade began, it has caused Cuba more than $93 billion in economic losses, a figure that would be equivalent to $224.4 billion if adjusted for inflation.
Workers in the United States have nothing to lose from ending the blockade; the Cuban people have everything to gain.
