A message of solidarity to the people of the United States
• Text of a statement approved by the deputies of Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power

THE people of Cuba have followed with concern the news related to the effects of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Information that is still incomplete shows that it is a veritable tragedy of extraordinary dimensions.

In terms of physical destruction and material damage, it is considered to be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The Red Cross in that country believes that its work will be even greater than what it confronted after the atrocious attack of September 11, 2001.

Tens of thousands of people are trapped in flooded areas, have lost their homes, are displaced or are refugees. The Louisiana governor has described the situation as desperate in New Orleans, where the water continues to rise. The mayor of that city stated that hundreds and perhaps thousands of people could have died there.

This disaster, with its enormous burden of death and suffering, is a blow to the entire population of those states, but is even more harshly afflicting African-Americans, Latino workers and poor U.S. citizens who comprise the masses still waiting to be rescued and taken somewhere safe, and they are the majority among the fatalities and people left homeless.

This news causes pain and sadness for the Cuban people. On their behalf, we wish to express our profound solidarity with the people of the United States, the state and local authorities and the victims of this disaster. The entire world should feel this tragedy as its own.