Cuba’s government announced Friday that it has requested and received technical assistance from the United States to clean up after a massive fire at a fuel facility that caused widespread destruction and killed 16 firefighters.
Experts from Cuba and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined a video conference meeting Wednesday to discuss the cleanup effort at the fuel storage facility in the port of Matanzas, east of Havana. Cuba’s foreign ministry described the “professional and fruitful exchange” of views.
The Cuban experts asked for an assessment of efforts so far and to be given access to data on innovative techniques and procedures of the EPA, other agencies and oil companies in the US, the island’s Foreign Ministry explained.
The fire was caused by lightning on August 5 at the fuel storage facility, Cuba’s largest, in Matanzas, 100 kilometers east of the capital. Four huge tanks, containing up to 52 million liters of crude oil and fuel oil, burned. The facility had eight such tanks. It took a week to extinguish the fire. The government in Havana called the fire the worst of its kind in the Caribbean country’s history.
The US government views the communist government of Cuba, an island only 100 miles from the US coast, as an enemy. It continues to enforce a decades-old weight embargo it imposed shortly after the revolution led by Fidel Castro that toppled the regime of General Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
But in May, Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration lifted some restrictions on the island, which his counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel’s administration called a “small step in the right direction.”
While the fire was still raging, the US offered technical advice to Cuban authorities by telephone.
Source: Capital
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
