Turin City Council Approves Resolution on Solidarity Aid for Cuba

The city council of Turin, Italy, approved a resolution condemning the United States’ blockade against Cuba and calling for the implementation of concrete aid projects for the Caribbean nation’s population, according to a report released today.

A statement published on the official website of the local government, in the capital of the northern Piedmont region, notes that the initiative—presented by councilors Claudio Cerrato and María Grazia Grippo of the Democratic Party (PD)—highlights the severe effects of U.S. government pressures on the island.

The document expresses “concern over the consequences of the oil blockade imposed on Cuba” following the signing, on January 29, by U.S. President Donald Trump, of an executive order aimed at preventing fuel imports to the country, intending to provoke an “energy and humanitarian crisis.”

The resolution recalls the solidarity that unites Turin with Cuba, particularly the contribution made in 2020 by Cuban specialists from the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade to the people of the Italian city during the most critical moments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Cuban people “suffer the dramatic consequences of a prolonged economic, commercial, and financial blockade, recently intensified by these new restrictive measures, which have practically eliminated the supply of oil,” the document states, as highlighted in an analysis published by La Repubblica.

“This energy shortage is paralyzing essential services, severely affecting food distribution, water supply, and, above all, the operation of health centers, putting the most vulnerable segments of the population at serious risk,” it adds.

The resolution urges Turin authorities, in close collaboration with the Civil Protection Department and humanitarian organizations, “to evaluate the possibility of implementing concrete aid initiatives, such as the collection of medicines and essential goods.”

Furthermore, it calls on the Italian government to reiterate, in all international forums, its opposition to the blockade, which affects the fundamental rights of the civilian population, and to promote the restoration of cooperation channels instead.

The council also requests that the Italian Parliament be informed about the current situation in Cuba “so that the severity of the crisis can finally receive the necessary space in a transparent and thorough institutional debate.”

This initiative joins numerous others led in Italy by various organizations, including “Energy for Life,” co-sponsored by the National Association of Friendship Italy-Cuba, the ARCI Social Promotion Association, the Italian General Confederation of Labor, and the National Association of Partisans of Italy.

It also includes the campaign “A Medicine for Cuba,” promoted by the Union of Base Trade Unions (USB), one of Italy’s largest labor unions, aimed at supporting public health in the Caribbean nation.