“The regime has to make the decision to resign or to better serve its people,” said US Undersecretary of State Jeremy P. Lewin.
LIMA, Peru – Jeremy P. Lewin, Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian and Religious Freedom Affairs, offered a press conference this week about the series of direct humanitarian shipments to Cuba and destined for the people committed by the Trump Administration, especially after Hurricane Melissa.
The Undersecretary of State began by expressing his “enormous gratitude” to the Church and Cáritas Cuba, organizations that have been in charge of managing permits with the regime and distributing Washington’s aid within the Island.
“They are taking an enormous risk,” he said, while recalling that the dictatorship has prevented attempts to distribute aid in the past and pointing to the fact that the situation in Cuba is very serious from a humanitarian point of view.
The donations follow up on the effects of the hurricane, P.Lewin stressed, but this is only a small part of what, he regrets, is a growing humanitarian crisis created by man due to the incompetence and repression of the regime.
The senior official stressed that the commitment to Cuba and its people is “unbreakable”, but not towards the Cuban regime, to whom he sent a warning.
“As the Secretary (Marco Rubio) and the President (Donald Trump)nothing from this Government will ever go to the Cuban regime. So none of this aid, none of this assistance will benefit, either directly or indirectly, the Cuban regime. We have made sure very, very, very well that this is the case. And, again, if they steal or divert anything that is intended for the Cuban people, we will monitor it and hold them accountable,” he stated.
In relation to the existence of direct negotiations with the Government of Havana to deliver humanitarian aid, P.Lewin justified that Washington cannot operate on the Island the assistance structure that would normally operate in other countries, due to the existing political tensions and the restrictions imposed by the regime.
In that way, humanitarian shipments They begin to arrive more than two months after the cyclone passed through the eastern Cuban region, once the Church obtained the appropriate mechanism and permits.
“We are starting with the amount we can send under the current circumstances. We did not ask the regime if it wanted help, because it is not their help. They are not in a position to take care of their people. They are not in a position to make decisions about it.”
On this matter, the Undersecretary of State argued that Castroism has allied itself with the main adversaries of the White House, from Russia to Iran, has colonized Venezuela and has participated in the narco-terrorist operation that was being carried out there. “And that regime will not receive any help from the United States,” he confirmed.
“And ultimately the regime has to make the decision to resign or to better serve its people. But what we are doing here today is making sure that even if they can’t, we have ways, and we are going to continue to try to explore ways that allow us to provide aid directly to the population,” said P.Lewin.
