MIAMI — The U.S. State Department and Catholic Relief Services on Tuesday dispatched the first humanitarian flight to Cuba as part of a $100 million U.S. aid commitment, marking the first direct shipment under an initiative announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
State Department officials gathered at Miami International Airport as pallets of food, medical supplies, hygiene kits and other essentials were loaded onto the aircraft.
“We are shipping pre-packaged boxes of commodities, so it is food, medical equipment, daily essentials, hygiene kits,” said Jeremy Lewin, the State Department’s under secretary for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom.
Officials said the shipment is the first in what is expected to become weekly humanitarian aid flights to Cuba.
The aid effort stems from a proposal Rubio announced in May, when he challenged the Cuban government to accept U.S. humanitarian assistance.
“Our preference is always a diplomatic solution, always, and a negotiated agreement,” Rubio said at the time.
Lewin said Cuba’s willingness to accept the aid reflects the country’s worsening humanitarian situation.
“The reason they did not want to accept it admits what everyone knows, which is it is a government that is incapable of providing for its own people, needs external assistance like that,” Lewin said.
Local 10 News Cuba analyst Dr. Andy Gomez said Cuba’s acceptance of the aid could signal the severity of its economic crisis.
“Cuba had delayed making their decision, but they’re such dire need, they have no other choice but to accept it,” Gomez said. “They realize that they’re at the very end.”
Gomez said while a political collapse does not appear imminent, the country’s economic decline could eventually trigger broader changes.
“The political collapse has not happened, and I don’t see it happening right away, but an economic collapse could lead to a political collapse. We have to wait and see,” Gomez said.
He said the humanitarian effort also weakens one of the Cuban government’s longstanding arguments.
“By getting humanitarian aid, the Cuban government loses that propaganda message that they continue to blame the economic embargo in their argument to the Cuban people,” Gomez said.
Lewin said the agreement allowing the aid into Cuba followed ongoing diplomatic negotiations.
“This is something we have been negotiating in our ongoing diplomatic talks with the regime, and we are pleased to say they have agreed in principle to allow these distributions,” he said.
To help ensure the supplies reach Cuban families, the State Department partnered with Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Cuba, which will distribute the packages through churches across the island.
“They have an extensive network of volunteers to reach out to those who are most in need,” Catholic Relief Services President and CEO Sean Callahan said.
Lewin said organizers distributing the aid will report any interference by Cuban authorities.
“We will know immediately if the regime interferes and takes a box that is intended for a Cuban family, and if that is the case, then we will hold them accountable, and we expect the Cuban people all around the world will hold them accountable for that,” he said.
He also emphasized that U.S. sanctions include exemptions for humanitarian operations.
“While we take on the national security threats posed by the regime, our commitment to the Cuban people is ironclad and want to be able to deliver critical assistance that their government should be able to provide to them, but isn’t,” Lewin said.
Callahan said aid will be delivered to all 15 dioceses in Cuba using a combination of air and ground transportation to minimize the impact of fuel shortages.
“We are doing different shipments to all the different 15 dioceses, so either by land or by air to minimize any internal transport because of the shortage of fuel, and then once it is there, the Catholic Church is getting it out by a volunteer network, whether that is push carts, donkey carts, or people carrying it one place or another,” he said.
State Department officials said they expect the humanitarian flights to continue on a weekly basis.
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