By Humberto (Bert) Corzo*
The category 4 Hurricane Gustav with 150 mph winds, which crossed Cuba
on August 30, caused the greatest damage in Pinar de Rio. According to
official reports, winds from the hurricane had occasional gusts of up to
212 mph.
So far only 19 hurt and injured have been reported, none seriously, that
left in its wake the hurricane Gustav, according to official sources.
Five fishermen who were missing since August 28 were found and rescued.
The Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation
(CCDHRN) had expressed concern that there has been no report by the
authorities of the disappearance. Relatives of Jesus Valier reported his
disappearance in the river Toa, Guantanamo, Sunday, August 31 after
heavy rains provoked by hurricane Gustav in areas of the country's
eastern region. In the official reports, no disappearances were reported.
It is unbelievable that there haven't been fatalities due to accidents
as a result of the hurricane, which is in contrasts with the 96
fatalities reported in the other Caribbean countries hit by Gustav.
Hurricane Gustav totally or partially destroyed 140,000 homes on
Saturday August 30th in the western province of Pinar del Rio, 370
schools, hundreds of kilometers of electrical and telephone lines and
destroyed many crops.
The category 2 Hurricane Ike with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph
crossed Cuba from east to west during September 8 to 10. More than
200,000 structures were damaged by the hurricane, of which the official
media reported 30,000 as total collapse. Experts affirm that at least 70
percent of the dwellings of Havana are in a precarious state.
So far there have been reported 7 deaths caused by Hurricane Ike. The
official newspaper Granma reported that "the loss of seven lives ... not
only were the direct result of the effects of Ike, but the lack of
strict enforcement of the measures oriented by the system of Civil
Defense." The cynicism of the tyranny knows no bounds in attributing the
occurrence of the deaths were due to the irresponsibility of the victims.
The regime has estimated the losses caused by hurricanes Dennis and
Gustav at $ 5 billion dollars. Non-governmental sources estimated the
losses at $ 10 billion dollars.
The U.S. government reiterated its offer of aid to Cuba on September 10.
"The Cuban government rejected on September 6 our initial offer to send
a team to assess damage caused by Hurricane 'Gustav', but our proposal
still stands after Hurricane 'Ike'", explained the State Department in a
press release.
The regime criticized it, claiming that the assessment team was an
unnecessary pretext and requested a temporary lifting of the embargo.
The Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez explained that lifting the embargo,
even temporarily, requires congressional approval.
On September 15, the U.S. government disclosed that the Cuban government
rejected $5 million dollars to assist victims of the hurricanes, despite
eliminating the requirement to send an assessment team.
September 17 in the "Reflections of Fidel", the official response of the
regime noted that what the country really needed was the approval of
credits to purchase building materials.
In this reflection Castro said: "the dignity of a people has no price"
and later "Those in our country who are upset about that are totally
mistaken", in obvious reference to the regime's decision of not
accepting the aid of the United States. According to him dignity is more
important than helping the victims when they need it most. The last
thing on his mind is the welfare of the Cuban people.
.
His real intention is to use the disasters caused by the hurricanes as
an opportunity to extract concessions from the U.S. government, such as
suspension of the trade embargo and authorizing loans and credit lines
that will not be paid and the American taxpayers will be the ones who
have to pay the debts, at the same time that the dictatorship does not
make any concession.
The Cuban regime has not responded to the latest unconditional free
offer from
Washington on September 19 to send $6.3 million in construction
materials and shelters to some 48,000 people victims of the hurricanes.
"Our most recent offer was a direct response to the request of the Cuban
government for building materials", Gutierrez explained.
"It's hard to understand -- hard -- how they put politics ahead of
suffering,"' U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in a phone
interview with The Miami Herald on Monday September 22. The regime has
rejected three previous offers, and has not responded to the latest.
United States is the first supplier of food and humane aid to Cuba and
number two in sending money.
On September 24, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the
inclusion of $ 100 million to help victims of hurricanes and
reconstruction assistance to Haiti and other Caribbean nations. The U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated $30 million
in emergency aid to Haiti so far. For sure the help that it had been
assigned to Cuba would be much more than the $ 30 million earmarked for
Haiti, since the United States would speed up, during a period of 90
days, the processing of applications for assistance.
Castro estimated at $ 1,400 million the losses caused by the category 3
hurricane Dennis which crossed Cuba on July 8, 2005, and damaged more
than 120,000 dwellings. The swellings of the rivers exceeded those that
occurred during hurricane Flora.
A university professor and researcher of the economic sector admitted to
the The New Herald that "the disaster estimates seem incomplete in
consideration with the images views"
Despite the magnitude of the disaster, Castro said he doesn't accept any
help offered by
United States and the European Union to mitigate the damages caused by
the hurricane.
Nevertheless on September 5, 2005 Castro offered to send a brigade of
1586 Cuban doctors to the United States to take care of the victims of
Hurricane Katrina. His hypocrisy doesn't have limits.
The United States thanked but turned down Cuba's offer to send about
1,600 doctors to tend to Hurricane Katrina victims because enough
American doctors have volunteered to take care of the victims.
Castro's government estimated at $1,800 millions the losses caused by
hurricane Michelle in 2001; at $1,223 million the losses caused by
Charley and at $923 million those caused by Ivan in 2004. The damages
caused by these hurricanes have been less catastrophic than those caused
by Dennis.
The regime's statistics have estimated the number of fatalities caused
by hurricanes in: George 6, 1988, Irene 4, 1999, Michelle 5, 2001,
Isidore 2 and Lili 1, 2002, Charley 5, 2004, Ivan 0, 2004, and Dennis
17, 2005.
Bulletins of the Agency of National Information (AIN) of Cuba during and
after the passage of Ivan, announced between 8 and 12 inches of rain and
a tide between 8 and 10 feet, with waves up to 20 feet high. The
flooding of the rivers are very similar to those that occurred during
Hurricane Flora, yet not a single loss of human life was reported.
These figures are of highly questionable veracity. The statistics are
never exact reflection of the reality, and even lend themselves to
manipulation. The statistics in the Castro tyranny are deliberately
distorted for advertising purposes, manipulating or simply hiding the
information, like in the statistics of deaths caused by Hurricane Flora,
as is shown next:
Hurricane Flora caused havoc in Cuba. According to the Government
statement 100 deaths were reported. Periódico Revolución, October of 1963.
Flora caused near 1,000 deaths. Speech by Fidel Castro May 27, 1969.
Hurricane Flora devastates Cuba: 1,159 corpses and numerous damages.
Elmundo.com,
July 25, 2001.
A monument to remember the victims of Hurricane Flora, which killed more
than
1, 200 Cubans. Juventud Rebelde, October 7, 2003.
The most deadly, however, was Flora in 1963, which left nearly 2,000
killed by the floods that occurred in the east of the island. Havana,
September 13, 2004 (EFE).
The statistics of the Castro tyranny speak for themselves.
How many years must pass to really know the material losses and loss of
human lives caused by the other hurricanes? The day is not far away when
we can verify the veracity of these statistics.
* Humberto (Bert) Corzo was born in Cuba. In 1962 he graduated from
University of Havana with a degree in Civil Engineering. Since coming to
the United States in 1969, he established his residence in Los Angeles,
California, where in 1972 he obtained the registration as a Professional
Engineer. He has over forty five years of experience in the field of
Structural Engineering. He is a Member of the American Society of Civil
Engineers and the Cuban-American Association of Civil Engineers.
No comments:
Post a Comment