A cargo plane from 7Air took off from Miami International Airport with the first shipment of the 100 million dollar humanitarian aid package that the United States has allocated for the Cuban people.
The inaugural flight carries 700 hygiene kits and 700 food items destined for Havana, and its departure was preceded by a press conference with U.S. officials in Miami, as confirmed by Café Fuerte.
Who will distribute it?
The State Department clarified that the delivery will be coordinated through independent organizations: Catholic Relief Services, Cáritas Cuba, and the Catholic Church in Cuba, without any mediation from the Cuban government.
"This assistance highlights the importance of the United States' ongoing commitment to the Cuban people by providing essential humanitarian aid and vital support to those facing an ever-increasing shortage of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential services," an official statement noted.
Of the total, 60 million will be managed by the Catholic Church and the 40 million remaining through highly trusted non-governmental organizations.
It is estimated that the complete package will benefit between 100,000 and 120,000 families across the island.
Disputes the claims made by Díaz-Canel
The flight scheduled for this Tuesday directly contradicts the statements made by Miguel Díaz-Canel at the end of June before a Dominican television station, when he stated that aid would not begin until after September and that it would not include food or medicine.
The State Department categorically rejected both claims
"That is totally and absolutely false. The shipments include food, as was demonstrated during the inspections conducted during the humanitarian aid phases after Hurricane Melissa."
Díaz-Canel himself had described the offer as a "joke," even though - as he acknowledged - the Cuban government formally accepted the assistance in writing.
The regime also rejected the proposal to send prestigious organizations to provide medical services on the island.
Background: The nine million before
This shipment adds to two previous amounts, totaling nine million dollars, sent since January 2026 in response to Hurricane Melissa, which struck eastern Cuba on October 29, 2025, and affected over three million people.
Cáritas Cuba reported that it has executed 82% of those funds, benefiting approximately 8,800 families in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Las Tunas, Bayamo, and Guantánamo.
Diplomatic tension as a backdrop
The flight takes off at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Havana.
Just 24 hours earlier, the State Department published the report “Cuba, Capital of 21st Century Communism”, which accuses the regime of nearly seven decades of espionage and subversion in the United States.
This Monday, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, met with the executive director of Catholic Relief Services to coordinate direct delivery to the Cuban people, "avoiding the greedy and hypocritical communist regime of Havana," he wrote on X.
Díaz-Canel responded to the report on Tuesday, attacking Secretary of State Marco Rubio:
"The thief believes that everyone shares his condition. Nothing could be more accurate to characterize the report from the State Department against Cuba, promoted by one of the most corrupt officials of the current administration, with proven ties to drug traffickers and terrorists from Florida."
Rubio had been emphatic when announcing the package in May:
"The Cuban people must know that there are 100 million dollars in food and medicine available to them right now, and the only reason they are not reaching them is the Cuban regime."
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