The government of Ottawa announced a support package for Cuba on Thursday, after the ambassador to Canada, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, intensified his efforts with Canadian authorities, to whom he described the situation on the island and requested assistance.
Malmierca—who was received in Parliament and at various meetings with Canadian lawmakers and high-ranking officials—addressed members of Parliament and ministers about the worsening energy and humanitarian crisis in Cuba, directly linking the fuel shortage, widespread blackouts, and food scarcity to the long-standing embargo imposed by the United States.
Cuba has not received oil supplies since last year after shipments from Venezuela, its main supplier, were interrupted amid U.S. pressure, and is now facing a critical shortage that has paralyzed key sectors of the economy and daily life, it reported.
Shortly after Malmierca's diplomatic efforts, Canada announced the urgent provision of 8 million Canadian dollars in food aid to Cuba. This assistance will be channeled through UN agencies such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF to support the most vulnerable populations facing shortages of basic goods.
The announcement was made from Parliament Hill by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, emphasizing that the assistance is in response to humanitarian considerations in the face of a crisis that has created barriers to access to food, fuel, and medical care on the island.
The aid package marks a turning point in Canadian policy towards Cuba amid the country's worst energy crisis in decades.
Ottawa's decision comes in a context where several airlines, including some Canadian ones, have suspended flights to Cuba due to a lack of fuel, increasing international pressure on Havana.
Malmierca's main arguments to the Canadian parliamentarians revolved around the "economic suffocation" that Cuba is experiencing due to the embargo and the blockade of energy supply, and the need for international solidarity to address the consequences on the civilian population.
This resonated in Ottawa as the crisis has intensified since early 2026, with power outages, transport shortages, and increasing limitations on basic services, creating an atmosphere of widespread austerity on the island.
The Cuban government has been describing the impact of U.S. measures on the supply of fuel and other essential goods as "criminal," and they have insisted on attributing the responsibility for the crisis to the embargo and the coercive actions of the United States in international forums.
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