Open Arms Activists Arrive in Havana Aboard the Astral Sailboat

The sailboat Astral arrived in Havana today with members of the "Rumbo a Cuba" solidarity project, organized by Open Arms in conjunction with other European organizations. The Open Arms vessel crossed the Atlantic to support the largest of the Antilles amid the tightening blockade and energy siege imposed by the U.S. government on the island.

The "Rumbo a Cuba" project aims to guarantee the energy autonomy of the Juan Manuel Márquez pediatric hospital, where the crew and the delegation that supported them on the journey will arrive Monday to deliver the donation.

In the Mediterranean, the Astral has contributed to rescuing more than 15,000 lives through observation and surveillance missions of migrants shipwrecked in that sea, and it also serves as a training vessel for the Open Arms project in port. The crossing had seven crew members and was led by Catalan rescuer Óscar Camps, founder and director of Open Arms.

The reception was led by Fernando González Llort, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP); Havana Vice Governor Reinol García Moreiro; and Araís Consuegro Otero, director of the Juan Manuel Márquez pediatric hospital.

Also participating in the reception were Open Arms communications director Laura Lanuza; Spanish activist and politician Miguel Urban Crespo, co-founder of the Podemos party; and Ana Miranda Paz, MEP for the Galician Nationalist Bloc.

After completing standard protocols at the Havana Cruise Terminal, the visitors were welcomed during a ceremony at ICAP's headquarters.