Manitobans with ties to Cuba anxious amid humanitarian crisis

Manitobans with ties to Cuba are frustrated and scared amid a growing humanitarian crisis in the country.

Manitobans with ties to Cuba are watching in fear and anger as a growing humanitarian crisis unfolds in the Caribbean country.

Roger Rancano and his family immigrated to Canada from Cuba in 2012.

He said the country has been on a decline since he left, with conditions becoming increasingly dire over the last month during an effective oil blockade on the country ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“I feel such disappointment and frustration,” he said.

“At the end of the day, after 60 years of embargo and all the situations that have been happening in Cuba, what we see is just the development of these new tactics to suffocate our country one way or another.”

For weeks, Cuba has faced increasing shortages of electricity, fuel and basic necessities.

Cuba is also experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, as Trump threatened to impose tariffs last month on countries sending oil to the island.

On Friday, he suggested a “friendly takeover” of the communist-led country, as tensions mount between Washington, D.C., and Havana.

For its part, Canada is sending $8 million in aid on top of its existing support, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced this week.

Here in Winnipeg, Rancano said he hasn’t been able to get in touch with friends and family in Cuba due to the electricity issues.

He worries for them and the entire country, which he says is in the cross-hairs of a brutal political fight.

“There’s no food. There’s garbage in the streets that cannot be picked up. That is creating a very healthy situation for for all the Cuban citizens,” he said.

“Those who are suffering are just innocent people, and they’re not at fault for the failed politics that have been applied towards Cuba in the past 60 years.”

- With files from The Associated Press