Trump administration announces another six million dollars in humanitarian aid for Cuba

Washington.- The administration of US President Donald Trump announced this Thursday the sending of an additional batch of humanitarian aid to Cuba, valued at six million dollars, in a context marked by Washington's veto on crude oil shipments to the island.

However, the State Department stated this Thursday that the humanitarian needs in Cuba are not related to the oil embargo, and that they respond to the fact that, according to the U.S., the Cuban government does not use its funds to cover the needs of its citizens.

«Much of the humanitarian need we are responding to is that people do not have access to food. And it's not because we don't allow illicit Venezuelan oil to continue enriching Raúl Castro. It's because the government can't stock the shelves of the stores», said the acting Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom, Jeremy Lewin, at a press conference.

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"They have billions of dollars, but they don't use them to buy food for ordinary Cubans," he added.

On January 14th, the United States already reported the shipment of humanitarian aid worth 3 million dollars to Cuba for the families affected by Hurricane Melissa.

Lewin presented this Thursday the additional aid, which consists of the delivery of tens of thousands of units of basic products, including hygiene kits or non-perishable foods such as pasta, rice, canned tuna or beans, and which, like the first batch of January, will be sent from Miami through the same channels and will be distributed through local parishes. "We are delivering pre-packaged products to make it much more difficult for the regime to interfere," the U.S. official assured.

How will United States aid be distributed in Cuba?

He also detailed that the aid will be delivered mostly in the eastern part of the island, one of the areas most affected by the hurricane, which hit Cuba at the end of October last year. Asked about the statements of the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who has rejected Washington's pressures, Lewin criticized him for being focused on making "scandalous statements" against the United States instead of providing food to his citizens. "We urge Díaz-Canel and all members of the Cuban regime to focus, above all, on taking care of their people instead of so much absurd rhetoric about the United States," he asserted. The U.S. closed the flow of Venezuelan oil to Cuba on January 3, following the capture of that country's president, Nicolás Maduro, and on January 29 announced a presidential order to apply tariffs to anyone who supplied fuel to the island.

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The Cuban president assured this Thursday that the island has not received fuel from abroad since last December due to pressure from the US and warned that the oil blockade will have serious consequences in the country. The U.S. military operation in Caracas on January 3, which culminated in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, meant for Havana, in addition to the blow to a key regional ally, the end of vital energy supply for the island. Different experts estimate that of the 110,000 barrels of oil per day that Cuba needs to meet its energy needs, Venezuela provided about 30,000 in 2025.