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Cuban-American Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar demanded this Sunday that the regime in Havana "step aside" and allow humanitarian aid sent by the United States to reach the victims of Hurricane Melissa directly.
“As chairwoman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, I applaud the Administration's efforts to deliver aid to the Cuban people following the devastating hurricane Melissa,” she wrote on her X profile.
“Now the dictatorship must step aside. Aid is for the victims, not for the oppressors,” she added.
Minutes earlier, Salazar had posted the same message in English, in which she urged the Cuban government to “allow aid to reach the people who are truly suffering,” emphasizing that the purpose of the assistance is to directly help the affected communities, not to strengthen the regime.
His statements came shortly after the U.S. Government announced the allocation of 3 million dollars in humanitarian assistance for Cubans affected by Hurricane Melissa, which devastated several provinces in the eastern part of the island.
According to the Western Hemisphere Affairs Office of the State Department (WHA), the aid will be distributed in coordination with the Catholic Church to ensure that the resources reach the most affected communities without any intermediaries from the Cuban government.
“United States is coordinating with the Catholic Church the distribution of three million dollars in humanitarian assistance directly to those in Eastern Cuba who were most affected by the devastation of Hurricane Melissa. Our prayers are with the brave Cuban people,” stated the WHA on its official account on X.
The humanitarian gesture reinforces Washington's commitment to direct support for the Cuban people, in a context marked by allegations of mismanagement, lack of transparency, and political manipulation of aid during previous disasters.
The decision by the State Department comes just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated his willingness to provide assistance “without regime intermediaries”, insisting that any American aid should go “to the people and not to the Cuban government.”
Hurricane Melissa, which struck Cuban territory on October 29, left tens of thousands of people affected and caused severe damage to homes, crops, and electrical networks in Guantánamo, Granma, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba, where communities remain isolated and power outages persist.
The strategy of channeling aid through the Catholic Church aims to ensure a transparent, effective process of delivery free from political interference in a country where resource distribution is often centralized by the state.
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