UN: Blockade Stops Humanitarian Aid

Even as the Trump administration has used economic warfare to destroy the Cuban economy and exact collective punishment on its population, U.S. officials have touted a donation of $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba that is being distributed by the Catholic Church and Caritas.

The aid was ostensibly meant for victims of Hurricane Melissa — although it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the $74 million the UN estimated that Cuba needed. The U.S. aid did not begin to arrive until months after the hurricane struck.

Meanwhile, the UN Resident Coordinator for Cuba Francisco Pichón said Monday at a press conference that the U.S. oil blockade on the island has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching people in need.

“The implementation of our action plan in response to Hurricane Melissa has been affected severely by the fuel shortages,” he said. “About 170 containers of essential humanitarian goods that have already arrived in Cuba [that] amounts to about $6.3 million are not reaching beneficiaries.”