CUBA: MUHAMMAD ALI DONATES HALF A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO CUBA

Record ID: 371581

  • Title: CUBA: MUHAMMAD ALI DONATES HALF A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO CUBA
  • Date: 18th January 1996
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (JANUARY 18, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. BOXING LEGEND MUHAMMAD ALI WALKING DOWN STEPS OF PLANE 2. CUBAN BOXER TEOFILO STEVENSON GREETING ALI 3. VARIOUS OF ALI AND STEVENSON BOARDING BUS AND LEAVING PLANE 4. VARIOUS OF ALI WITH STEVENSON, MEMBERS OF THE CUBAN RED CROSS AND WIFE IN PRESS CONFERENCE 5. ALI AND STEVENSON PRETENDING TO BOX Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HAVANA, CUBA
  • City:
  • Country: Cuba CARIBBEAN
  • Reuters ID: LVA4NLHWJPMFQILBTY7ZM1Z8319C
  • Story Text: Legendary former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali donated 500,000 U.S. dollars worth of medicines to Cuba on Thursday (January 18) as part of a humanitarian visit to the communist-ruled Caribbean island.

    The 54-year-old former three-time world heavyweight champion flew in from Miami in the morning and was met by Cuba's former amateur heavyweight champion, Teofilo Stevenson, and officials from the Cuban Red Cross.

    Ali, dressed in a red polo shirt and white trousers, walked haltingly through the airport, escorted by Stevenson, who is a good friend and who recently visited Ali in the United States. ALi was accompanied by his wife, Lonnie.

    Ali, a boxing legend of the 1960s and 1970s, has suffered for some time with Parkinson's disease, an illness of the central nervous system.

    The former boxer later handed over the donation of medicines including antibiotics to the Cuban Red Cross at a brief ceremony at the group's Havana headquarters. He was warmly thanked by Cuban Red Cross secretary-general Luis Foyo.

    The aid was provided by two private U.S. educational and charity groups, Disarm Educational Fund and Direct Relief International (DRI). The groups plan further donations in the future in a programme of aid to the island.

    The medicines will be distributed at clinics in Havana and elsewhere on the island, whose highly-touted free health care system has been badly hit by economic crisis in recent years.

    Ali did not address the scrum of news media surrounding him at the Red Cross building. But his wife spoke on his behalf, saying his visit was "strictly humanitarian and in no way political in nature.

    Ali, admired in a country that is strong in amateur boxing, will visit a series of medical clinics on his trip, which lasts until next Tuesday.

    The United States and Cuba do not have diplomatic relations and Washington maintains a longstanding economic embargo against the island. But licenced humanitarian donations from the United States are permitted.


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