Cuba Receives a New Humanitarian Aid Shipment from Mexico and Belize

The cargo ship Asian Katra docked in Havana Sunday delivering 1,700 tons coming from Mexico and Belize with basic essentials, informed the Cuban authorities.

This new shipment arrives at a time when the Caribbean nation faces a critical humanitarian crisis that was exacerbated when the Trump administration imposed an oil blockade at the end of January, threatening to impose tariff against any country that sent oil shipment to the island. Since then, only one Russian cargo ship was allowed to dock—in late March—carrying 100,000 tons, reserves have already run out.

This marks the sixth humanitarian aid shipment sent by the Mexican government and civil society since the U.S government ramped up  pressure on Cuba. The U.S. has alleged that Cuba represents an “extraordinary threat” to its national security, although it has provided no evidence to support the claim.

On his X account, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel thanked the governments of Mexico and Belize, various solidarity groups and Mexican newspaper La Jornada for the aid. 

Cuba has been under U.S blockade and economic embargo since 1960. This was expanded in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy utilized the Foreign Assistance Act to declare a total blockade with extraterritorial reach. In 1964, sanctions were further strengthened to block any international aid distribution and penalize countries receiving U.S. benefits if they provided any assistance to Havana— all with the ultimate goal of forcing a regime change.

Photo: Cuban Government