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The Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla accused the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on Friday of fabricating "the tale of a supposed offer of assistance of 100 million dollars or more" to deceive the Cuban people and American citizens.
The reaction of the Chancellor on his X account came hours after Rubio revealed from Rome that Washington had offered 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid that the Cuban regime has refused to distribute among the population.
Rodríguez described Rubio as an "anti-Cuban politician" and directly questioned the truthfulness of his words.
"Was he sincere at the Holy See?" he wrote, referring to the meeting that the Secretary of State had on Thursday with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican, where Cuba and the expansion of humanitarian aid were the central topics.
"The United States Secretary of State, knowing full well that he must resort to lies to justify his criminal abuse against the Cuban people, fabricates the tale of a supposed offer of assistance worth 100 million dollars or more, in an attempt to deceive the people of Cuba and American citizens themselves," emphasized the head of Cuban diplomacy.
Rodríguez also questioned the destination of those funds. "Where did they go? What would they have been used for?" He added that "it takes a high degree of cynicism to make a statement, without feeling any shame and in such a misleading manner, about supposed assistance."
Rubio, for his part, specified that six million dollars have already been distributed through Caritas and the Catholic Church, and that Washington is willing to go much further.
"We have offered the regime 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid that, unfortunately, they have not yet agreed to distribute to help the people of Cuba," he stated.
What the Cuban Chancellor did not mention in his message is that U.S. humanitarian aid, deliberately channeled through the Catholic Church to avoid state mediation, has reached tens of thousands of Cuban families affected by Hurricane Melissa, which devastated the eastern part of the island on October 29, 2025.
This Friday, Cáritas Cuba updated the status of the assistance provided by the U.S. government and reported that it has utilized 82% of the first donation of three million dollars, benefiting 8,800 families in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Las Tunas, Granma, and Guantánamo.
The regime has maintained a hostile stance toward aid from the beginning. Cuban officials have publicly labeled assistance as "dirty political business," "handouts," and "begging," while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated this Friday that the United States wants to "provoke an outbreak" in Cuba.
The dispute is set against a backdrop of ongoing U.S. pressure. On Thursday, Rubio announced new sanctions against the military conglomerate Gaesa and Moa Nickel S.A., and warned that the measures will continue "until the regime undertakes all necessary political and economic reforms."
Since January, the Trump administration has imposed over 240 sanctions against Cuba, intercepted at least seven tankers, and reduced the island's energy imports by between 80% and 90%, according to dossier data.
The Economist Intelligence Unit projects a 7.2% economic contraction for Cuba this year.
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