Medical Relief Shipment From Los Angeles Arrives in Havana.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1998--Operation USA, a Los Angeles-based international relief and development agency, Thursday announced that a major shipment of medical supplies and hospital equipment will be arriving in Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 18.

The two 40-foot sea containers are arriving on board the Nuevitas of Cuba's Coral Line out of Montreal. This is the first of many shipments over the next two years. The group has licenses from the U.S. government departments of Treasury and Commerce to assist pediatric hospitals in Cuba with up to $1 million in aid.

Operation USA has worked in 67 countries providing disaster relief and long-term development assistance, including major development programs in Vietnam. The organization was the first U.S. group back into Vietnam and Cambodia after the end of the Vietnam War.

The Cuba Medical Project of Operation USA has been coordinated by William Paparian, the former mayor (and current City Council member) of Pasadena, Calif., who is also an Operation USA volunteer. Paparian has traveled to Cuba on several occasions, hand-carrying medicine and antibiotics for local pediatric hospitals.

Richard Walden, Operation USA president, announced: "The purpose of this shipment of medical assistance is to help Cuba's children overcome critical shortages of medical supplies resulting from the 38-year-long U.S. trade embargo.

"We are hopeful that the Congress and the Clinton administration will work together for a saner and more compassionate U.S. policy towards Cuba which will not penalize its children. We regret that humanitarian aid for children is still part of the politics of U.S.-Cuba relations, making relief efforts like ours necessary."