“The new forms of state management come to contribute and not to subtract,” young Self-Employed Worker (TCP) Daniel Abnier Rodríguez tells Negolution while helping to load a truck with supplies for those who lost everything, or almost everything in Pinar del Río following the passage of Hurricane Ian.
Daniel, owner of the paint brand Prodanco, together with other enterprises such as Dofleini, the Cabildo Quisicuaba Sociocultural Project, the United Nations Development Program in Cuba, BLS Industry and Technology, Juanky’s Pan, different MSMEs, TCPs and civil society members this past weekend came together in the collection of medicines, fowler beds, food, toiletries and other supplies to support the population of the westernmost province of the island.
“We have united for Pinar del Río, for its people, which is the important thing, that they know that the Cuba’s heart is there with them,” Daniel adds before leaving for San Luis, one of the municipalities of Pinar del Río that reported the most damage after the hurricane.
As has happened following other catastrophes in Cuba (the most recent being the fire at the Supertanker Base in Matanzas), several initiatives, most of them independent, are now mobilizing in the collection of donations in solidarity with the people affected by the passage of Hurricane Ian.
Initiatives such as Dar es Dar have also brought all kinds of aid to the province, donated by people from other regions of the country. Bank accounts have been set up abroad for those who wish to contribute to the purchase of supplies and medicines for Pinar del Río families.
Others, such as Proyecto Faro (a non-profit social welfare organization) called through different platforms for people to join the efforts to support those affected by the hurricane; groups of volunteers who would help in the most affected areas of Pinar del Río, as well as in the donation of clothes, food and medicines.
While the damages caused by Hurricane Ian in Pinar del Río are still being assessed, at first sight, it is possible to appreciate considerable damages to housing, communications, agriculture and the infrastructure of the electric system.
