Two containers of medication for the treatment of epilepsy are being held by the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd in the port of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, according to a complaint filed by Medicuba S.A.
The shipment, consisting of 500 mg sodium valproate tablets, is being held by Hapag-Lloyd, which “refuses to release the cargo, citing compliance with the U.S. blockade,” according to a post by Medicuba S.A. on its Facebook page.
The statement, which has been echoed by official media outlets such as Granma, indicates that “depriving the Cuban population of this medication represents a threat to public health, since epilepsy requires continuous treatment to prevent seizures and the deterioration of patients.”
The company also specifies that this withholding affects thousands of people, including children and the elderly.
Medicuba S.A. demanded the immediate release of the containers from Hapag-Lloyd and denounced the situation to the international community.
This incident occurred a week after news broke that the French shipping company CMA CGM had left a container with more than 3.5 million syringes and needles destined for the Cuban healthcare system in the port of Jamaica.
The French company offered as alternatives returning the container to the port of origin or transferring the cargo to another shipping company, with the additional costs borne by the sender.
Among the cargo that the French shipping company then detained in the port of Jamaica was a container sent by the solidarity organization SODePAZ — a European NGO — “carrying more than 3.5 million syringes and needles destined for the health system in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba,” according to state media.
The suspension of operations by both CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, two of the world’s leading shipping companies, comes after the entry into force of Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump last May.
This order tightens sanctions against Cuba and expands the scope of so-called secondary sanctions.
The new provisions seek to penalize companies that maintain commercial relations with Cuban entities, under threat of restrictions on operating in the United States or accessing its financial system.
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio added another element of pressure by asserting that “for more than six decades, the Cuban regime has been the main sponsor of leftist radicalism and third-worldism in the United States.”
IMAGE CREDIT: Photo from the Facebook profile of Hapag-Lloyd AG.
[ SOURCE: www.cubainformacion.tv ]
