The government of Brazil began on Monday the shipment of 48 tons of powdered milk to Cuba as humanitarian aid, according to a statement from the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic, in response to the severe shortages facing the island.
The operation is carried out on two flights of the Brazilian Air Force headed to Santiago de Cuba.
The first flight took off at 2:10 PM this Monday from the Canoas Air Base in Rio Grande do Sul, carrying 16 tons. The second flight will depart this Tuesday from Porto Alegre International Airport with the remaining 32 tons. Both flights are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, July 15.
The decision was made on July 9 during a meeting led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with the Chief Minister of the Civil House, Miriam Belchior; the Minister of Defense, José Múcio Monteiro; the Chancellor, Mauro Vieira; the Minister of Agrarian Development, Fernanda Machiaveli; the commander of the Air Force, Brigadier Marcelo Damasceno; and the president of the National Supply Company (Conab), Sílvio Porto.
The coordination of the operation falls under the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation (ABC), which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the food is supplied by Conab.
According to the presidential statement, "new donations of food and medicine are under evaluation by the Brazilian government."
Santiago de Cuba, the destination city for Brazilian flights, is also the area most affected by Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall as a category 3 hurricane in October 2025 and left a trail of destruction that is still felt in the eastern region of the country.
This shipment is part of a larger humanitarian aid that Brazil announced on March 19, which included 170,000 tons of rice, 150 tons of black beans, and 500 tons of powdered milk, facilitated through the World Food Program (WFP).
In May, Lula's government also donated medications to treat a thousand patients on the island.
However, Brazilian aid has not been without controversy: in March, there were allegations that products donated by Brazil, Mexico, and Chile were being sold in dollar stores run by Cuban military personnel, accusations that the regime denied.
Additionally, Cuba has a debt of 676 million dollars to Brazil.
Cuba is experiencing its worst energy and food crisis in decades. The cutoff of Venezuelan oil supplies —following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation— and the reduction of shipments from Mexico left the island without fuel reserves in May 2026.
The electrical deficit exceeds 2,000 MW, with power outages lasting between 20 and 36 hours daily in several provinces.
33.9% of Cuban households report that at least one person went to bed hungry, and gasoline can reach nine dollars per liter on the black market.
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