The sailboat Astral, part of the solidarity project 

On its first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the sailboat Astral, belonging to the non-governmental organization Open Arms, arrived in Cuba this Sunday with a cargo of solidarity that, among other donations, included a photovoltaic kit that will provide energy independence to the Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital in Havana.
The vessel, part of the "Rumbo a Cuba" (Heading to Cuba) solidarity project, is an initiative spearheaded by activists and politicians in Spain with the goal of delivering humanitarian aid to the island. This was reported by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) on its social media.
"With ten years of experience in air and sea humanitarian aid, the rescue movement is reaching Cuba, extending solidarity amidst increasingly severe U.S. sanctions," stated the ICAP website.
To make the idea of ​​a group of friends to help the youngest children in Cuba receiving care at the Juan Manuel Márquez Children's Hospital a reality, more than 4,000 people made donations, totaling over €170,000.
The leaders of this solidarity project are Miguel Urbans, a Spanish politician and activist, co-founder of Podemos and leader of Anticapitalistas, who also served as a Member of the European Parliament between 2015 and 2024, and Óscar Camps, founder and creator of the Open Arms humanitarian project, which for many years has saved lives in the Mediterranean and supported the Global Sumud flotilla in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine.
The welcoming ceremony for the sailboat Astral was presided over by Fernando González Llort, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and president of ICAP, and Reinol García Moreiro, Vice Governor of Havana.
The activists who arrived in Cuba are accompanied by a group of Members of the European Parliament, other members of parliament, and representatives of civil society, who have already begun their agenda on the island. Among them are Ana Miranda, a Member of the European Parliament and politician from the Galician nationalist bloc; Aïda Llauradó Álvarez, a Catalan politician linked to Catalunya en Comú and a provincial deputy in Barcelona; Susana Moreno, a Catalan politician and member of the Candidatura d’Unitat Popular; and Ana Gabriel I Sabaté, a Catalan politician and activist.
As part of these activities, on the eve of the sailboat's arrival in Havana, the delegation was received at Casa de las Américas by the Cuban intellectual and president of the institution, Abel Prieto Jiménez. The event, which was also attended by figures from Cuban culture and civil society, as well as diplomats from various nations, reaffirmed the bonds of friendship between the two peoples and served to demonstrate, as Abel Prieto asserted, that in the midst of the aggressions of the U.S. government, Cuba is not alone.
One of the objectives of this gesture of solidarity is to denounce the economic and energy blockade imposed on the Caribbean nation by the White House.
Interviewed at a dock in Isla Blanca, Mexico, where the sailboat made a stop, Óscar Camps stated that, although the amount of supplies they would like to send to the island isn't as high as they'd like, "it's here, and it was given to us by citizens who were able to support this campaign," he said.
Regarding the hostile policies of the U.S. government, Camps asserted that "what's being done in Cuba is a medieval siege, depriving the civilian population of their hospitals, (...) cutting off power and leaving hospitals without electricity, so that incubators don't work, dialysis machines don't work, refrigerators don't work—that means losing lives."
In that regard, he lamented that infant mortality on the island has increased due to this lack of energy, and that's what they're going to try to address, "doing our bit, and well, let's see if this generates a wave of awareness (...)," according to statements to the Mexican newspaper La Jornada.