40th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Tragedy
Crucial Humanitarian Aid Provided by Cuba Will Never Be Forgotten
Fidel receiving children from Chernobyl in 1990
April 26, 2026 marked the 40th anniversary of the April 26, 1986 nuclear tragedy in Chernobyl in Ukraine. Following that tragedy the Cuban government organized a humanitarian program that provided medical care to over 26,000 Ukrainians, most of them children.
On the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 2021, in a statement to the special commemorative meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Cuban delegation stated that "the terrible nuclear accident at Chernobyl affected the lives of thousands of people, particularly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia; and for the first time tested the response of the international community to such a catastrophe.
"Chernobyl is a name linked to the tragedy of lives that were lost or changed forever; and is also linked to international cooperation, one of the purposes of the United Nations Charter, in this case to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the nuclear disaster.
"Cuba is deeply honored to have been among the first countries to respond to the request for international assistance and to have contributed to the response to the disaster and its aftermath for many years.
"Cuba was the only country to organize a comprehensive health program, massive and free of charge, for the care of children affected by the Chernobyl accident. Of the more than 25,000 people treated in Cuba between 1990 and 2011, 21,340 were children, many of whom had had their hopes dashed, had been denied treatment in other parts of the world, or had come from boarding schools for children without family support."
The delegation also noted that "most of the children with onco-hematological diseases treated in Cuba through this program are in perfect health.
"The program for the treatment of children affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe is one more example of our humanitarian and internationalist policy, which is based on the principle of sharing what we have, not giving what we have to spare.
"This program was sustained, even in the worst years of our economy, in the 1990s, and despite the onslaught of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States.
"The children of Tarará, as we affectionately call in Cuba these thousands of boys and girls who were treated in that student summer resort, will always have a friendly people in ours."
This year, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary, UN Secretary General António Guterres addressed the Commemorative Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in Observance of the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster. After pointing out that some 350,000 people across the region were forced to flee their homes, he said that besides remembering the suffering, trauma and displacement that people endured: "We remember how this tragedy revealed the best of the human spirit."
The Secretary General then spoke of the "first responders, firefighters, liquidators, and medical workers who responded to the emergency" and the "multinational, long-term recovery efforts that followed," the "tireless work of scientists, engineers and academics who collected and analyzed evidence about how this disaster happened -- and how it could be prevented in the future" and "the work of the United Nations that mobilized global partners and donors to support the recovery" by "providing emergency and humanitarian aid."
"Perhaps most of all," he said, "Chernobyl underscores the vital importance of countries working together, and sharing information and experiences."
But not once did he mention all the efforts made by the Cuban government and its people to come to the aid of Ukraine and other countries of the then Soviet Union. As well, in the coverage of that anniversary in Quebec, in three articles printed in Le Devoir on the anniversary, Cuba was also not mentioned, despite all the attacks on that people and nation by the U.S. administration and its accusations that Cuba abuses human rights and the like, about which the Canadian state remains silent despite all evidence to the contrary. Shame on the Secretary General of the United Nations and the media in Canada! Despite their silence, Cuba's record of humanitarian aid will not be forgotten by the thousands of oppressed peoples it has helped.
(Photos: Granma)
This article was published in
Volume 56
Number 30 - May 5, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/T560302.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca