USA’s Humanitarian Aid for Cubans!
Washington, Feb 5 (EFE).-
The administration of United States President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the shipment of an additional 6 million dollars in humanitarian aid for Cuba. The announcement comes amid Washington’s veto on crude oil shipments to the island.
However, on Thursday, the State Department stated that Cuba’s humanitarian needs are not related to the oil blockade and argued that the Cuban government does not allocate funds to meet its citizens’ needs.
According to Assistant Secretary of State Jeremy Lewin, a significant part of the humanitarian need they are responding to is people’s lack of access to food, which is not due to the prohibition of illicit Venezuelan oil, but rather because the government cannot stock the store shelves.
“They have billions of dollars, but they do not use them to buy food for ordinary Cubans,” Lewin added.
On Jan. 14, the US reported the shipment of 3 million dollars’ worth of humanitarian assistance to Cuba for families affected by Hurricane Melissa.
As of Thursday, Lewin announced an additional 3 million dollars in aid, consisting of tens of thousands of units of basic products, including hygiene kits and non-perishable food items such as pasta, rice, canned tuna, and beans.
Like the January shipment, this aid will be sent from Miami through the same channels and distributed through local parishes.
“We are delivering prepackaged products to make interference by the regime much more difficult,” the US official said.
He also said that most of the aid will be delivered to eastern Cuba, one of the areas hardest hit by the hurricane that struck in late Oct. 2025.
When asked about Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s statements rejecting Washington’s pressure, Lewin criticized him for making scandalous statements against the US instead of providing food to his citizens.
On Jan. 3, the US closed the flow of Venezuelan oil to Cuba after the capture of that country’s former president, Nicolás Maduro. Then, on Jan. 29, the US announced a presidential order to apply tariffs to anyone supplying fuel to the island.
On Thursday, the Cuban president confirmed that Cuba has not received fuel from abroad since Dec. 2025 due to US pressure and warned that the oil blockade would have serious consequences for the country.
The US military operation in Caracas on Jan. 3, which culminated in the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro, meant that, in addition to losing a key regional ally, Havana also lost a vital energy supply.
Experts estimate that, of the 110,000 barrels of oil Cuba needs daily, Venezuela provided about 30,000 in 2025. EFE
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