The United States announced on Sunday US$3 million in humanitarian aid for Cubans affected by the hurricane. Melissawhich devastated several provinces in the east of the country.
• Also read: Hurricane “Melissa”: surviving among the rubble in Cuba, already tested by the crisis
• Also read: Hurricane “Melissa”: nearly 50 dead in the Caribbean, aid flows
“The United States is coordinating with the Catholic Church the distribution of US$3 million in humanitarian aid directly to those in eastern Cuba most affected by the devastation of the hurricane Melissa», announced on X the office of affairs for the Western Hemisphere.
The hurricane Melissawhich devastated entire regions of Jamaica earlier this week, struck eastern Cuba and flooded Haiti, left nearly 60 dead in the Caribbean.
In Cuba, the government, which had carried out the preventive evacuation of more than 700,000 people, has so far reported no casualties. But several provinces in the east of the country have suffered considerable damage: collapsed houses, downed electricity network, devastated crops…
On Friday, the United States, which has imposed an economic embargo on Cuba for more than six decades, said it “stands with the courageous Cuban people” and the State Department said it was “ready to provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly and through local partners,” without going through the government.
A proposal described as “unworthy” by Havana.
“If it was the sincere desire of this government to support our people, they would have unconditionally lifted the criminal blockade and removed us from the list of states supporting terrorism, where we should never have appeared,” responded Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party.
Since the end of 2021, the United States has re-listed Cuba on its list of “state sponsors of terrorism”, leading to a strengthening of the embargo. Former President Joe Biden withdrew it a week before leaving the White House, a decision quickly revoked by Donald Trump.
In the past, the Catholic Church has regularly served as a mediator between the two ideological enemies.
In the rest of the Caribbean, the United States has mobilized relief teams in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Haiti. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Cuba was included in the American package.
Aid has already been sent to Cuba by Venezuela and Mexico, in addition to the deployment of aid by UN agencies.
