MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) – Humanitarian activists are working to deliver much-needed aid to Cuba, and the efforts are being met with criticism from South Florida\u2019s Cuban exile community.<\/p>\n
More than 20 tons of food, medicine, solar panels and other supplies are ready to set sail Saturday, as a flotilla called Nuestra Am\u00e9rica Convoy prepared to head from Progreso, Mexico to Havana.<\/p>\n
Before setting sail, Thiago \u00c1vila, an organizer for the Global Sumud Flotilla, said he hopes to deliver the life-saving supplies to the people of Cuba, as the island\u2019s humanitarian crisis deepens.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Spanish, \u00c1vila said that what they are taking is a drop in the ocean, but it is an important and symbolic movement.<\/p>\n
At Miami International Airport on Friday, others who are taking part in the convoy left to Havana by plane.<\/p>\n
Medea Benjamin echoed \u00c1vila\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a drop in the bucket, in terms of what the needs are, but I think it\u2019s also important for the Cuban people to see that the people in the United States don\u2019t agree with a policy that\u2019s designed to create tremendous hardships in Cuba,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cuba\u2019s economic crisis is the worst in years, driven by tightened sanctions by the U.S. and a blockade of oil. The regime appears to be weakening by the day, but so are the people, who are struggling without power, little food and medicine.<\/p>\n
Danie Valdez, the founder of the organization Cuban Americans for Cuba, was among those.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany Cuban Americans, despite what you hear from the loudest ones, do not support U.S. policy that actively harms their friends, their family, their loved ones in Cuba,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
About 300 people from roughly 30 countries are joining that movement, one that is being criticized by Cuban exiles in South Florida who said it is organized by Castro sympathizers.<\/p>\n
Ram\u00f3n Sa\u00fal S\u00e1nchez, president of Movimiento Democracia, spoke out against the flotilla at a news conference held Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flotilla is organized by the daughter of Ra\u00fal Castro and groups that are supportive of the regime,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what are they going to do if they give it to the regime? The regime is going to sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca, aid that was donated to Cuba from Mexico was showing up in the island\u2019s stores and being sold for U.S. dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, it is the government\u2019s job to take this aid and distribute it \u2014 that\u2019s what they do \u2014 and the aid will be distributed by Cuban civil service organizations,\u201d said Valdez. \u201cI just don\u2019t believe that the Cuban government has an interest in hoarding thousands of tons of aid when their people are starving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many Cuban Americans living in exile in Florida oppose this convoy for this very reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy uncle was tortured by the communist regime. He was a political prisoner for six years,\u201d said a Cuban American man who spoke to 7News at MIA. \u201cIf we protest about due process, if we protest about the rule of law, how can we be giving aid to a communist regime?\u201d<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez is calling on the Trump administration to allow Cuban exiles to return in their own flotilla so that they can deliver supplies that they know will go into the right hands.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, S\u00e1nchez has a message for the Cuban people.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo to el Malec\u00f3n and say to the regime and say to the flotilla, \u2018Give us that, that was sent to us by the Mexican people. Do not give it to the regime to so that they cannot sell it anymore,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio continued the pressure campaign as he pushes for regime change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t know how to fix it, so they have to get new people in charge,\u201d he said earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Cuban exiles are hoping that happens sooner rather than later<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want freedom now. We cannot keep postponing this, \u2019cause there are young people who are losing their lives,\u201d said Cuban activist Salome Garcia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will, always will be thinking about entering Cuban waters and our homeland,\u201d said S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n