UK thanks Cuba for 'great gesture of solidarity' in rescuing passengers from coronavirus cruise ship
UK thanks Cuba for ‘great gesture of solidarity’ in rescuing passengers from coronavirus cruise ship
Cuban rescue workers safely out of quarantine
Jon StonePolicy Correspondent @joncstone
1 day ago
Buses escorted by the police transport the passengers of the British cruise ship MS Braemar to the Jose Marti International Airport, from Puerto del Mariel, Cuba, where the vessel was allowed to dock ( EPA )
Britain has thanked Cuban rescue workers for a “great gesture of solidarity” in helping the stranded passengers of a cruise ship struck by coronavirus.
In a glowing letter, the UK ambassador in Havana said he wanted to express his “immense gratitude and that of my country” for Cubans’ role in the operation.
But 43 Cuban workers, including a pilot, dock workers, police, and transport staff all had to go into quarantine for two weeks because of their close contact with the passengers. All have now been released and reunited with their families.
“During Operation Braemar, I witnessed the many qualities of the Cuban people, their humanitarian principles, kindness and hard-working attitude; facets of the Cuban character that I have come to know and love since I came to the country,” British ambassador Antony Stokes said in the letter dated 2 April, the day quarantine for the workers ended.
Cuba allowed the cruise ship MS Braemar to dock in Havana and allow its 682 mainly UK passengers to fly home, after other countries such as the Bahamas and Barbados refused permission because of Covid-19 infections onboard.
More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-cruise-ship-cuba-rescue-ms-braemar-havana-cases-a9451741.html
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John McEvoy
7th April 2020
UK ambassador to Cuba Dr Antony Stokes has formally thanked the Cuban government for taking in British cruise ship MS Braemar. The vessel, with a number of people infected with coronavirus (Covid-19) onboard, was refused permission to dock in the Bahamas and Barbados.
But the Cuban government offered to take it in and, as a result, 43 Cuban workers who helped had to go into quarantine for two weeks. Most of the ship’s 600 passengers were from the UK and have now been allowed to return home.
A ‘great gesture of solidarity’
In a letter dated 2 April and addressed to “those who helped in Operation Braemar”, Stokes said that he wanted to express his “and my country’s immense gratitude to the 43 Cubans” who assisted in Operation Braemar.
. . .
Throughout March, Cuba sent scores of doctors to countries most affected by the virus. By 26 March, Cuba had reportedly “sent 144 health workers to Jamaica, 136 doctors to Venezuela, and 50 doctors to Suriname”, as well as dozens to Italy.
Despite its humanitarian efforts, Cuba remains under a brutal US blockade which extends back to the Cold War era.
https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/04/07/uk-extends-its-immense-gratitude-to-cuba-for-helping-british-cruise-ship/
