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Relief supplies inside a bucket before being shipped to victims of Hurricane Melissa in Cuba at the Ecolog Warehouse in Weston on Jan. 14, 2026. A flight carrying U.S. humanitarian aid was scheduled to leave Miami for Cuba on Tuesday, July, 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
SAM NAVARRO<\/p>\n
Special to the Miami Herald<\/p>\n
Despite ongoing diplomatic tensions between the Trump administration and the government of Cuba, a flight carrying the first batch of $100 million worth of U.S. humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people was scheduled to depart from Miami on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s 7Air Cargo flight will carry 700 hygiene kits and 700 types of food items, the State Department said. The agency said the aid will be delivered directly to the population through \u201ctrusted, independent, and faith-based partners and charitable organizations,\u201d including Catholic Relief Services, C\u00e1ritas Cuba, and the Catholic Church in Cuba.<\/p>\n
The $100 million in assistance had been the subject of controversy between the two governments. The U.S. government offered the aid privately to Cuban authorities. Then in May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio came out publicly about the offer and said that the Cuban government had not accepted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the regime that\u2019s standing in the way of it,\u201d Rubio said at the time.<\/p>\n
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said at the time that Rubio was lying and that Cuba had no knowledge of the offer, but a week later, Cuba\u2019s leader, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, said his government was open to it and would not oppose it.<\/p>\n
The U.S. government began sending humanitarian aid in January as part of a $3 million assistance offer to help Cubans affected by Hurricane Melissa in eastern Cuba. Rubio later expanded the amount to $6 million, which was delivered by the Catholic Church and Caritas.<\/p>\n
It took almost three months to iron out the details of the aid delivery that will reach a population enduring the worst humanitarian crisis since the 19th Century. The country\u2019s power grid collapsed three times this month, while water service, food production, transportation, garbage collection and medical services have been severely disrupted.<\/p>\n
The aid comes at a time the Trump administration is increasing the pressure on the Cuban government to make economic and political changes, expanding sanctions to Cuban and foreign companies. Because the administration is exerting control over Venezuela\u2019s interim government after capturing its former leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and threatening other Cuba oil suppliers with tariffs, the Cuban government has not been able to import oil in six months, with the sole exception of a Russian tanker in March.<\/p>\n
The Cuban government and critics of the Trump administration, including a group of Democratic House members who recently traveled to the island, have called on the U.S. government to lift the de facto oil embargo on the island, which they say is a form of collective punishment.<\/p>\n
Rubio and other U.S. officials have responded to the criticism by pointing out that the Cuban power elites and the military\u2019s conglomerate GAESA have been siphoning the country\u2019s resources and prioritizing the distribution of the scarce fuel to benefit themselves and the government\u2019s repressive apparatus. The $100 million aid package also seems a gesture to counter the impact of U.S. sanctions on the population.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis assistance underscores the significance of the United States\u2019 sustained commitment to the Cuban people, delivering critical humanitarian relief to provide vital support to those facing worsening shortages of food, medicines, fuel, and other essential services amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions across Cuba,\u201d the State Department said.<\/p>\n
The first flight will arrive in Cuba as the two countries have been trading accusations this week. On Monday, the State Department published a report accusing Cuba of fueling far-left extremism and running spy rings in the U.S. Diaz-Canel responded by accusing the United States of inciting terrorism against Cuba.<\/p>\n
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