Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Havana would accept it humanitarian assistance from the United States if issued in accordance with internationally accepted practices.
But he added that, if the goal was to help end the suffering of the Cuban people, the US would do well to lift the trade embargo on the island.
Recommended Articles
list of things 3end of series
The President’s comments came in a social media post on Thursday, a day after the US offered it $100m in humanitarian aid in Cuba.
“If the US government really wants to provide aid in the amounts it has announced and in accordance with the internationally accepted activities, it will not face obstacles or disapproval from Cuba,” said Diaz-Canel.
However, the aid came with the condition that the Cuban government implement “necessary reforms”.
Diaz-Canel explained that the offer was surprising given what he called the “consistent and brutal punishment” the US government inflicts on the Cuban people.
“The damage can be reduced in the easiest and fastest way by removing or reducing the limit, since the humanitarian aid is known to be recklessly and deliberately miscalculated,” he wrote.
Since the 1960s, Cuba has been under the control of the US, one of its closest neighbors. The island is only 150 kilometers, or 90 miles, from the US coast.
But since President Donald Trump took office for a second term in 2025, US pressure on the Cuban government has intensified.
In January, Trump first cut off the flow of money and oil from Venezuela to Cuba. Then, he threatened to impose tariffs on any country that supplied oil to Havana, and set up an oil embargo on the island.
The result has been island-wide blackouts and power outages that have left public services, including hospitals, at a standstill.
Diaz-Canel indicated in a message on Thursday that the requirements have also started to decrease. He wrote: “The most important things are obvious: oil, food, and medicine.”
US will renew $100m in aid to Cuba
Thursday’s comments came a day after Cuba’s Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy warned that the country had run out of diesel and gasoline, exacerbating the island’s power crisis.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has signaled its intention to see regime change in Havana, where communist leaders are accused of brutal repression.
In a statement on Wednesday, the US State Department said it had held secret talks with the Cuban government to offer aid in exchange for government support.
“Today, the State Department is publicly reiterating the United States’ generous commitment to provide an additional $100 million in aid to the Cuban people,” the US State Department said in a statement.
“The choice is in the hands of the Cuban government to accept our help or to reject this massive life-saving aid and in the end they will answer to the Cuban people for standing in the most effective way.”
Media reports have indicated that the Trump administration has secretly pressured Diaz-Canel to resign, even though the move would strengthen the island’s communist leadership.
Trump has publicly touted his efforts in Venezuela as an example of how he wants governments he hates to change.
On January 3, the US launched a military operation to arrest then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Maduro’s second-in-command, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as his successor.
He has agreed to many of Trump’s demands, including allowing the US to control Venezuelan oil and access to foreign investment.
If Diaz-Canel steps down, it is unclear who will replace him.
On Thursday, a US delegation led by CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials in Havana, including a possible rival: Raul “Raulito” Rodriguez Castro, grandson of former President Raul Castro.
The two sides discussed possible cooperation on regional and international security.
According to the Cuban government, Havana also told the US delegation that Cuba does not pose a threat to US national security, as the Trump administration claims.
