The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, promised this Monday to the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, the sending of humanitarian aid to the island in the form of food and essential health products.
Both ministers met today in Madrid at the request of the head of Cuban diplomacy, in a meeting in which the situation of Spanish companies operating in Cuba and the commitment of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) with the island was also discussed.
“We reiterate the will to strengthen the political, economic-commercial dialogue and cooperation for the benefit of both countries, in the current complicated international context, in the face of the breaches of Peace, Security and International Law and the growing aggression of the United States against Cuba, in particular the blockade of fuel supplies, which causes suffering to our people,” Rodríguez said in a message on X after the meeting.
For its part, Spain committed to providing humanitarian aid—food and essential health products—from its cooperation agency (AECID) to Cuba through the UN.
Spain will thus join a very small group of countries, including Mexico, Chile and Russia, that send aid to the island, while the US president, Donald Trump, threatened on January 29 through an executive order with tariffs on countries that sell or provide oil to Havana.
Cuba is going through a serious economic and energy crisis, marked by shortages of basic products, lack of fuel and frequent blackouts, a context that Cuban authorities largely attribute to the tightening of US sanctions, in addition to internal factors and the cumulative impact of the pandemic.
The island has been mired in one of its worst crises for several years, due, among other factors, to the inefficiency of its centralized economic system and resulting in shortages of fuel, food, medicine and other basic products.
In addition to analyzing Cuba’s current scenario, the Foreign Ministers also spoke about the Ibero-American Summit that will take place in Madrid between November 4 and 5, for which Cuba conveyed its support for “multilateralism to face global challenges and promote sustainable development.”
Upon entering the meeting, the Cuban foreign minister was scolded by a dozen people who were waiting for him on the sidewalk in front of the palace, with Cuban flags and posters.
The Cuban Foreign Minister was in transit in the Spanish capital before leaving for Cuba and after visiting China, Russia and Vietnam, to gather support for the energy blockade imposed by the United States on the Caribbean island.
