US envoy meets Cáritas Cuba director as church aid distribution begins

First aid deliveries reach vulnerable families in western Cuba

The meeting between Mike Hammer, the U.S. Embassy in Havana’s charge d’affaires, and Carmen María Nodal came a day after the first cargo plane carrying the aid arrived in Havana. The embassy said the two officials reviewed the expansion of the humanitarian program across the island and planned visits to volunteers and beneficiaries.

The food and hygiene kits are being distributed according to humanitarian vulnerability criteria, Cáritas Cuba said. The first deliveries went to families in Bejucal, in Mayabeque province, and Alquízar, in Artemisa province, who were previously identified by local communities as the most vulnerable.

Each package is designed to cover a family’s basic needs for about 10 days and includes rice, beans, pasta, canned tuna and sardines, cooking oil, sugar, salt, soap, detergent, toothbrushes, sanitary pads, water purification tablets, solar lamps and other household supplies.

Washington has said it is using the extensive network of Catholic parishes and volunteers to ensure the aid reaches recipients directly without being diverted by the Cuban government. State Department officials said they will closely monitor the distribution process to prevent misappropriation.

The Cuban government authorized the entry of the humanitarian shipment but has continued to criticize the U.S. sanctions regime. The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment acknowledged the shipment’s arrival while reiterating that U.S. restrictions — including what Havana describes as a de facto oil embargo — continue to affect the country’s economy.

The aid delivery has also drawn criticism within the United States. Several Democratic members of the House of Representatives who recently visited Cuba have urged the administration to lift the restrictions, arguing they amount to collective punishment. Rubio and other U.S. officials have rejected that argument, stating that Cuba’s ruling elite and the military-run conglomerate GAESA have diverted the country’s resources and prioritized scarce fuel supplies for the government and its security apparatus.