The United States is committed to the well-being of the Cuban people, especially in the wake of the devastation wrought by hurricane Melissa. The storm ravaged eastern Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane in October, leaving thousands of people without homes and destroying crops, telecommunications, electricity and water-pumping infrastructure.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the first in a series of direct humanitarian shipments to Cuba as part of the $3 million of disaster assistance committed by the Trump Administration following the hurricane.
“These shipments,” said Secretary Rubio in a statement, “reflect our sustained commitment to the Cuban people as they continue to recover from the devastation. While the storm has passed, humanitarian needs remain acute, and recovery efforts are ongoing.”
Two U.S.-supported humanitarian flights are delivering much needed relief supplies. This support will reach an estimated 6,000 families - approximately 24,000 individuals - in the hardest-hit provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma, and Guantanamo. Each flight will deliver more than 525 food kits and 650 hygiene and water treatment kits, reaching over 1,000 families.
A commercial vessel scheduled to dock in Santiago de Cuba in a few weeks will carry the rest of the assistance. This will include but is not limited to food kits with rice, beans, oil, and sugar to help families meet basic nutritional needs and hygiene and water treatment kits, including water purification tablets and storage containers for safe drinking water.
Pots and cooking utensils will be provided to help families prepare meals. And sheets and blankets to stay warm, solar lanterns for lighting during outages, and other essentials will be delivered to the Cuban people.
“Consistent with our longstanding policy,” said Secretary Rubio, “we have taken extraordinary measures to ensure that this assistance reaches the Cuban people directly, without interference or diversion by the illegitimate regime. We are working in close partnership with the Catholic Church in Cuba to deliver aid transparently and effectively.”
“ As Secretary Rubio has said, the incompetent and illegitimate regime has for too long failed to care for the brave Cuban people,” said Jeremy Lewin, Acting Under Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom in a post on X.
As these “charter flights demonstrate, the Trump Administration is committed to supporting the Cuban people, even if their corrupt rulers will not,” he added. “Working with the Catholic Church, we are proud to be able to deliver critical life-saving assistance directly to the people. If the regime gets out of the way, we are eager to provide even more support in the coming days and months.”
