The aid, valued at three million dollars, will be distributed through the Catholic Church and independent humanitarian organizations in the East.
MADRID, Spain.- The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex) reacted this Wednesday to the announcement by the United States Government about the sending of humanitarian aid after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, accusing Washington of using that support for “opportunistic purposes and political manipulation.”
In a official statement, The Foreign Ministry affirmed that the assistance announced by the Donald Trump Administration—valued at three million dollars and destined for some 6,000 families in the eastern provinces—was publicly disclosed without prior coordination between both governments. According to the text, the Cuban authorities learned the details of the shipment through the Catholic Church, which acts as an intermediary with humanitarian organizations in the United States.
The Minrex maintained that Cuba “is not opposed to humanitarian aid,” but rejected that it is used “as a political instrument” or presented as a unilateral gesture. “The State Department may continue to lie about Cuba, but it will not be able to alter the facts,” the statement concludes, in a new rhetorical escalation against Washington.
The official reaction comes after the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced on his X account the shipment of the first shipmentstressing that the distribution would be carried out “with the Catholic Church and humanitarian partners” to prevent the aid from being under the control of the Cuban Government. “We work so that it reaches the people directly, not to the illegitimate regime,” he wrote.
According to the information released by the State Department, the assistance includes charter flights from Miami to Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, as well as the subsequent arrival of a commercial ship with the rest of the cargo. The shipments include basic foodstuffs, hygiene kits, water purification tablets, kitchen utensils, blankets and solar flashlights, with the aim of serving thousands of families affected by the hurricane in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma and Guantánamo.
Although the Cuban Government claims to accept the donation “without conditions,” it insists on presenting the gesture as part of an alleged political instrumentalization, while avoiding mentioning the role that independent religious and humanitarian organizations have had in channeling the aid.
The Minrex statement once again shows the regime’s discomfort with any international initiative that, outside of its control structures, seeks to directly assist the population in the midst of an increasingly deepening economic and humanitarian crisis, generated precisely by the incompetence of the Cuban Government.
