U.S. Aid Arrives in Cuba Amid Deepening Sanctions

The first shipment of the U.S. government’s $100 million aid package arrived in Cuba this week. 700 aid kits, which include 10 days’ worth of non-perishable food and hygiene products, have been distributed to households in Bejucal and Alquízar, two towns on the outskirts of Havana. 

Of the $100 million, $60 million will be distributed by the Catholic Church, with the remaining $40 million distributed through other “trusted NGOs” that have not yet been publicly identified.

The food handouts have been welcomed by Cubans, who are suffering extreme hardships due to a lack of electricity, medicine, food, public transportation and other basic social services the government has been unable to provide due to U.S. economic warfare.

But the $100 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars in damage done to the Cuban economy by sanctions and the oil blockade.

U.S. officials have touted the aid, which is like breaking someone’s legs and then taking credit for offering them some aspirin.

Chargé d’Affaires Mike Hammer, the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba, who was in Bejucal to observe the aid deliveries, declined to answer questions when a Belly of the Beast journalist approached him on Friday.

​Watch Hammer avoid answering questions by jumping into his SUV.