US blockade makes it impossible for Cuba to purchase respirators

The company Medicuba will not be able to purchase the artificial respirators contracted to the manufacturers IMT Medical AG and Acutronic Medical Systems AG due to the blockade, because they were both bought by a US company, according to a Cuban official source.

Eugenio Martinez, director general for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, reported on Twitter that several suppliers informed Medicuba, importer of medicines, equipment and medical supplies, of the impossibility of delivering contracted pulmonary respirators, in high demand right now because of the Covid-19.

The impediment was the blockade imposed by the United States, since the manufacturers IMT Medical AG and Acutronic Medical Systems AG, both from Switzerland, were bought by Vyaire Medical Inc, a company based in Illinois, United States, said the diplomat.

Martinez also cited Medicuba's vice-president Luis Silva, who stressed that Cuba cannot buy medicines from US companies due to the blockade.

Silva mentioned that Medicuba tried to buy products from 60 firms from the United States, but only two answered, Bayer included, with which an agreement was signed that did not materialize due to the prohibition by the Treasury Department due to an alleged expiration of the permit.

The report presented by Cuba regarding the damages of the nearly sixty-years-long blockade adds that at that stage Medicuba made requests to 57 US companies to acquire supplies.

To date, 50 of these companies have responded and three others have claimed they lack authorization to sell any medicine or equipment to Cuba.