LatinNews Daily - 07 October 2022

*Cuba’s government has said that Hurricane Ian, which struck the island last week, affecting six western provinces and leaving at least three people dead, has damaged 21,259 hectares (ha) of agricultural land, mainly in the provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Mayabeque and, to a lesser extent, Havana. According to Cuba’s deputy agriculture minister, Maury Hechavarría, of the total land damaged, crops most affected are plantains and yuca, which accounted for 8,875 hectares (ha). More generally, the latest update by the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) reports that over 100,000 homes were affected, many of them having completely collapsed. According to the IFRC, authorities agree that housing is the sector that will take the longest to recover, considering not only the magnitude of the damage, but also the fact that, at the time of Ian’s impact, 6,000 families were awaiting solutions due to damage from previous emergencies. It adds that additionally, 95% of Pinar del Río province remains without electricity, which continues to complicate the supply of water and the re-establishment of telecommunications. The IFRC also underlines that agriculture suffered significant damage, as has the infrastructure to farms, cooperatives, and food marketing centres. Tobacco losses, which affect thousands of people in Pinar del Río province and account for 10.4% of all items exported from the nation, have been described as “disastrous”.

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