Gulf Oil Spill: Cuba Preparing For Possible Wave Of Oil

HAVANA — Cuba's civil defense chief said Tuesday that authorities are preparing coastal residents for the oil spill fouling the Gulf of Mexico, and a top military official said its possible arrival would be "a disaster."

It still is unclear whether some of the millions of gallons of spilled crude will reach Cuba, though government scientists appeared on state television within days of the April 20 rig explosion that touched off the spill to say the island was not immediately at risk.

So far there has been no apparent impact on tourism to the island's breathtaking north coast beaches.

"In Cuba we have had small spills involving tankers on our coasts, but we've never had to confront anything of this magnitude," Gen. Ramon Espinosa, vice minister of the armed forces, said at a government meeting on natural disaster preparedness. "Nonetheless we are documenting and studying. We are preparing with everything in our power."

Espinosa provided no details on preparations, but added that "for Cuba it would be a disaster" if the spill hits.

Some oil has already reached the coast of Florida, and scientists worry that crude will get caught up in the loop current, a ribbon of warm water that begins in the Gulf of Mexico and wraps around Florida.

U.S. and Cuban officials have put aside nearly 50 years of frigid relations to hold working-level talks on how to respond. Espinosa said he had no information on any concrete cooperation.

Speaking on the sidelines of the same event, Ramon Pardo, head of Cuban civil defense, also said he could not comment on discussions with Washington.

But Pardo said Havana "is taking all precautions: the preparation of the coast, vigilance, creating all necessary conditions, preparing the people who live on the coasts that could be impacted."

Both Espinosa and Pardo said the island will rely on the expertise of Venezuela, one of Cuba's top allies and a major oil producer.

Comments

[NonPrawf]

06:05 PM on 06/16/2010

USA & Cuba vs. BP??????

[bbrecht]

09:04 PM on 06/16/2010

Yes! I think we could take them!

[aristippe]

09:43 PM on 06/16/2010

more like cuba vs USA and Bp

[jasev01]

04:56 PM on 06/16/2010

Its finally come the US attack on the Island

[cityprole]

12:58 PM on 06/16/2010

This is a wonderful opportunity for the US to finally play catch-up with Canada and the rest of the world, and lift the damn blocade! There is nothing like a postitive outside cultral influence to help improve democracy..Cubans themselves bear no animosity to the US, whose leaders continue this nonsensical policy..hopefully Obama won't let this opportunity be wasted..

[gransview]

10:58 PM on 06/16/2010

Very Thoughtful. Would like to think something good could come from this.

fanned#4

[davidwayneosedach]

12:37 PM on 06/16/2010

I'd like to see Cuba try to get BP to pay cleanup damages.

[HuffFan1]

12:13 PM on 06/16/2010

Question...been looking for an answer but can't find it - is this mess going to affect the Bahamas?

[Flying Sparkz1]

10:44 AM on 06/16/2010

"U.S. and Cuban officials have put aside nearly 50 years of frigid relations to hold working-level talks on how to respond. Espinosa said he had no information on any concrete cooperation."

Cuba works closely with the NOAA every year tracking hurricanes. Frigid relations are unilateral on the part of the United States. Cuba has been calling for a normalization of relations for years. USAmerican tourists are welcome.

[William50]

10:36 AM on 06/16/2010

Dear BP if you think the government of the USA is going to after your pocket books wait until the oil reaches Cuba...Dig deep because it will cost you and your stockholders billions!

[patman77]

10:27 AM on 06/16/2010

again cuba caught up in the wrath of imperialist karma. so sad.

[patman77]

10:24 AM on 06/16/2010

how horrendous.

[michael429]

09:59 AM on 06/16/2010

What recourse does Cuba, Haiti or any other sovereign country in the path of this blob have?....we are going to hold BP accountable...are we going to advocate on behalf of these other countries as well...don't count on it....a miserable mess that has impact beyond our own narcissistic shores....

[Archivist1000]

12:30 PM on 06/16/2010

They will have the same recourse as Nigeria and Equatorial GUinea have with EXXON. We don't hear about it, because if it doesn't happen in the USA, it didn't happen

[1976A]

08:46 AM on 06/16/2010

BP Oil Spill:
All board members and executives of BP should be made to work on oil clean up in the Gulf. They should be made to get their hands dirty, to smell and feel the decaying wildlife.

They should work along side the residents of the Gulf and sit in a room and listen to the family members left behind due to their striving for profit over the safety of the employees and the environment.

[michael429]

09:57 AM on 06/16/2010

couldn't agree more....fanned..

[BritishColumbian]

06:45 PM on 06/16/2010

Remember to include the six Americans who sit on the board.

[blackphoebe]

08:35 AM on 06/16/2010

Gulf Clean Up a Joke

My dead grandmother could do better. It should be apparent that our government is AWOL and we’re at the mercy of the corporate equivalent of Hannibal Lector. Capping the well is one thing, controlling and containing oil, as Mike Papantonio (ringoffireradio.org) says, is not rocket science. Done in Saudi Gulf with tankers (google - tankers gulf Saudi). However, they didn’t spray deadly Corexit, which kills by robbing oxygen (suffocating aquatic life), destroying red blood cells, kidneys, lungs and brain, and, if you live long enough, causing cancer. Still, tankers could work, but where to get a few couple hundred? What we, the people, can do is bioremediate. This worked large scale in Texas. See Spillfighters.com. So all you Southern go-getters, go find some bioremediators and start spraying microbes on oily water and marshes. And find a way to superoxygenate when applying. If we can do an end run and show the world it works, maybe just maybe, we can save the Gulf, save the East Coast, save the Atlantic, and save the world…And then… no more oil, nukes, coal, bought politicians, paid corporate lobbyists, lock-step media, rigged elections, or rotten-to-the-core banks.

[JerryLevy]

08:05 AM on 06/16/2010

Maybe they will empty their political prisons and force the "detainees" to clean the beaches. It would be far from the first time Cuba used slave labor out of political prisoners.

[cuniverse]

08:30 AM on 06/16/2010

What about the millions of African American prisoners you have locked up in you jails ,why aren’t they cleaning up your coastline. To the outside world they are you political and social Genocidal prisoners
I f you are some what educated you should know that physically killing some one or a group is one way of elimination , create the conditions to have them do it to themselves is even more horrific.
The USA is the master at that art , skills honed on Native Americans and African Americans over the last 200 years
Leave the Cubans alone the are doing the best with the little they have

[totaldisbelief]

09:07 AM on 06/16/2010

do at least a little research before your knee starts jerking.

[Cacey]

07:38 AM on 06/16/2010

In the aftermath of Katrina, Cuba offered to send teams of medical professionals who are expert in treating tropical disease to Louisiana and other parts of the Gulf. The Bush Regieme refused perhaps causing even more deaths. It is great to see this Administration working with Cuba to modify a common problem.

[Margaritta Alarcon]

02:09 PM on 06/16/2010

Here! Here! Thank you very much Cacey! Its been a long time coming that people remind others of the solidarity offered by Cuba and refused by the Bush Administration. 5000 doctors all waiting to leave with backpacks full of antibiotics and other meds and supplies to help out. They waited for days and finally left for Pakistan to help out with the earthquake in that Asian land.
Both administrations should finally be allowed to work together, put an end to the blockade, free the Five Cubans unjustly imprisoned in exchange for those imprisoned in Cuba and fianlly after far too long live in peace!

[osofar]

07:31 AM on 06/16/2010

The only successful American intervention in Cuba is the oil spill.