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Castro denies accepting
US aid
IOL,
South Africa, October 28 2005.
Havana - Cuban President Fidel Castro denied
on Thursday that his Communist government
had accepted US aid for the first time in
the wake of Hurricane Wilma.
The US State Department said earlier its
longtime foe Cuba, whose own offer of help
was snubbed by Washington after Hurricane
Katrina, had for the first time "in
memory" accepted US disaster aid.
State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack
said a three-person US assessment team was
on stand-by to go to Cuba to see what was
needed after Wilma flooded Havana and western
shore areas this week.
US aid would be funneled through a non-governmental
organisation if it were needed, he said,
adding that Washington had sent a diplomatic
note to Cuba on Tuesday offering help and
received a positive response a day later.
'We won't close the door'
Havana's reply to the US offer, read out
by Castro on a live television broadcast,
said Cuba had not requested international
aid. "That is not an acceptance of
aid," the Cuban leader said.
Castro, annoyed that Washington was distorting
Cuba's intentions, said Havana had only
accepted a visit by the assessment team
in an effort to build regional cooperation
in dealing with the growing danger posed
by hurricanes.
"We have no objections at all to the
three officials visiting us, to know their
assessment and exchange views on these matters,"
Castro said. "We won't close the door."
Two months ago the United States did not
take up Havana's offer to send more than
1 000 doctors and tons of medical supplies
to the United States after Hurricane Katrina
hit the US Gulf Coast.
Cuba said the United States never formally
responded to the offer for political reasons,
but State Department officials said the
help was not needed.
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