Gainesville native Matéo Penado recently went down to Cuba amid a United States energy blockade.
Current situation
Last week, it was reported Cuba ran out of oil completely.
Recent reporting from the Associated Press shows Cuba’s national energy grid suffered a “major failure” on May 14, leading to food spoilage as refrigerators stop working and hospitals have canceling surgeries.
This is in the midst of rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, with former President Raúl Castro being indicted on a 30-year-old plane shootdown incident and the January capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro halting oil shipments to Cuba.
Penado sat down with AccessWDUN following his trip last month, going with the National Network on Cuba to deliver over $700,000 worth of aid.
“What we all should be pushing for is for this blockade to be lifted,” Penado said. “There is no reason for it, it is inhumane, and it is not the United States’ business to impede on another sovereign nation’s actions, point blank period.”
The full interview is embedded above and can be listened to in its entirety.
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Aid efforts
Penado described the distribution of the aid to the Cuban people.
“I didn’t realize that my experience in Amazon would ever be handy, but it was, and lifting all of those boxes,” Penado said. “The blockade makes it impossible that Cubans cannot buy anything, but also in turn Americans cannot sell to Cuba.”
The over-$700,000 worth of aid did not go without thanks from the Cuban people according to Penado, who also noted their resilience.
“They’re always thankful for it, and something that always strikes me is that they always, always emphasize, ‘I do not hate you, I do not hate the American people. I don’t even hate the American government. I just want the blockade to be lifted. I just want to be able to live freely and safely, in the sense of I can eat every day,’” Penado said. “Seeing the resilience of the Cuban people and their ingenuity … Cuba is looking to depend entirely on renewable energy sources by 2050.”
Getting down to Cuba
Penado described the process of getting down to Cuba, with the U.S. State Department self-imposing restrictions on citizens visiting the country.
“You have to apply for special visas,” Penado said. “There was a time period where they did open it up, and that was when Obama was in an office, and Cuba really flourished because that’s their top industry, is tourism. And then Trump came back into office and closed it off.”
Penado added he believes it is “ridiculous” that the United States imposes restrictions.
“I think it’s really ridiculous that the United States itself is restricting its own citizens from having the freedom and ability to go wherever they want in another nation,” Penado said. “For all that the United States will say that Cuba is this dictatorship regime … the United States doing a lot of surveillance and a lot of control over their own citizens, and so, yes, there is like a whole list of hotels and other places that people cannot stay in.”
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Boots on the ground reporting on the situation
Penado described various accounts of people living in the country under the current conditions.
“We visited this school that is for disabled children … more than 80% of the children there had cerebral palsy,” Penado said. “There were a couple of teachers on the brigade, and some of them mentioned the fact that ‘I see some coworkers who clock in and clock out, they don’t have a relationship with their student because they see teaching as just a job’ … and [a Cuban teacher] was just like … ‘maybe I don’t get paid a lot, but at the end of the day, I have a house, and it may be difficult to get some of the medicine because of the blockade, but that is something that’s given to me, so I’m not worried about these things, I’m more so worried about my child,’ and that’s what she said, ‘my children.’”
Penado added another account of a woman pleading him to speak to politicians in the United States.
“There was this lady … she grabbed me and someone else’s hands [and said] ‘can you please plead to your president and to your government officials to lift this blockade? It’s inhumane,’” Penado said.
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Georgia Senate Study on exports to Cuba
Penado noted that Cuba imports a lot of chicken, and he stumbled across a 2015 Georgia State Senate Committee report looking to improve trade relations with Cuba to send them chicken and other exports on the 53rd anniversary of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
“They realized that Cuba was buying so much chicken, and they were like, ‘hey, why can’t we sell more to them? What’s up with this blockade?’” Penado said.
In that report, it showcased the Port of Brunswick in Georgia being the number one U.S. trade port to Cuba. At that point in time, Georgia was 5th in the world behind Venezuela, Spain, China, and Brazil in exports to Cuba.
“Georgia needs to be prepared and ready for when the opportunity does open. Atlanta can become the business gateway to Cuba. The best that Georgia businesses and government decision-makers can do right now until the embargo is lifted is build relationships with the Cuban government and Cuban people that will position Georgia to do business when the embargo is lifted,” the Senate Study report read.
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Final message
Penado said his final message was “no war” to Cuba, lift the blockade, and take the country off the state-sponsored terrorism list.
He added the National Network on Cuba would be starting another material aid supply drive, continuing education on the topic, and contacting representatives in the U.S. government to ease relations with the country.
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
Photo courtesy of Matéo Penado
The post Gainesville native visits Cuba in relief effort amid US energy blockade appeared first on AccessWDUN.
