The Government of Cuba reported this Thursday that it has contacted the United States to define how it could provide the humanitarian aid announced for those affected by Hurricane Melissa in the east of the island.
“As a result of public communications today about the damage from the hurricane, we have contacted the (US) State Department and we are awaiting clarification on how and in what way they are willing to help,” said the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío.
Following public communications today about the damage from the hurricane, we have contacted the State Department and are awaiting clarification on how and in what way they are willing to help.
— Carlos F. de Cossio (@CarlosFdeCossio) October 30, 2025
The message from the Cuban vice chancellor on his social networks is the first public and official reaction to the previous announcement by the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, in which he indicated that his country would offer “immediate” humanitarian aid to the “people of Cuba affected” by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
“We are prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba affected by the hurricane,” Rubio wrote in a message on X.
In that same social network, he added that “as in neighboring Caribbean countries, the Department issues a Declaration of Humanitarian Assistance for Cuba and is prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance, both directly and through local partners who can distribute it in the most effective way to those who need it.”
A day earlier, the head of US diplomacy, of Cuban origin, left Cuba off the list by assuring that the US was in “close contact with the governments of Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas” due to the ravages of the Melissa and that US rescue teams were heading to the affected areas.
In this new message, the head of US diplomacy included the people of Cuba, but did not provide details of how this aid will be coordinated with the Government of Havana.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, maintains a firm and critical stance towards the Cuban Government, defending the need to maintain pressure to promote a democratic transition and distance the country from allies hostile to the United States.
The US says it is prepared to offer humanitarian aid to Cuba, but does not explain how or when
Hurricane Melissa, which has gone from category 5 to 2, is moving towards Bermuda, where the situation is expected to worsen tonight, after leaving a trail of destruction and fatalities in Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba, the National Hurricane Center reported.
In Cuba it left millions of people without electricity and cut off from communication, flooded and isolated municipalities, collapsed homes, flooded crops and extensive material damage.
