The U.S. Department of State confirmed this Friday that the humanitarian aid of 100 million dollars offered to Cuba is ready to be distributed this month of July, which includes food and medicine, thereby refuting the claims of the ruling Miguel Díaz-Canel, according to an investigation by Café Fuerte published by journalist Wilfredo Cancio Isla.
A senior official from the State Department stated directly to Café Fuerte: "We can confirm that the aid is ready to be sent and that the illegitimate regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel has been delaying approvals. We expect large shipments in July, if the regime allows it."
The official's statements respond to recent claims made by Díaz-Canel, who in an interview with the Corripio Communication Group from the Dominican Republic —published in full in the official newspaper Granma on June 25— asserted that aid would not arrive until after September and that it would not include food or medicine.
The State Department firmly rejected that claim: "That is completely and utterly false. The supplies provided by the State Department include food, as was demonstrated during the inspections conducted in the phases of humanitarian aid following Hurricane Melissa [October 2025], and this can be verified by the Catholic Church and other NGOs."
Díaz-Canel also hinted in that interview that the alleged delay would be due to the fact that the Trump administration is "doing some timing calculations" regarding what will happen in Cuba.
The State Department's source added that Washington has offered to bring several prestigious non-governmental organizations to the island to provide medical services, but the regime has refused to accept this.
The package of 100 million was officially offered in May 2026, following two previous amounts of aid totaling 9 million dollars that began to be sent in January in response to the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, which struck eastern Cuba in October 2025 and affected approximately one million people.
The Cuban government formally accepted the proposal of 100 million. In mid-June, the Department of State detailed the distribution of the package: 60 million will be managed by the Catholic Church, and the remaining 40 million through highly reliable non-governmental organizations.
As part of the coordination efforts, the head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, Mike Hammer, met with Sean Callahan, president of Catholic Relief Services, with Carmen María Nodal Martínez, director of Cáritas Cuba, and with Dionisio García Ibáñez, archbishop of Santiago de Cuba.
The United States embassy stated in a note that during those meetings "the coordination for distributing humanitarian aid to ordinary Cubans was addressed, with the aim of ensuring that support reaches those who need it most effectively."
As of today, Cáritas reports having distributed 82% of the previous humanitarian donations, benefiting approximately 8,800 families in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Las Tunas, Bayamo, and Guantánamo.
The entire process takes place amidst secret bilateral talks that began in early 2026, in which humanitarian aid, oil, and energy have been central topics, according to a source in Washington who spoke to Café Fuerte.
The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla stated on Tuesday that negotiations with the U.S. show no progress, although he acknowledged that the U.S. delegations have been "generally respectful," in contrast to the sanctions and threats that occur simultaneously.
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