The State Department dispatched the first humanitarian aid flight from Miami on Tuesday as part of the 100 million dollar package that Secretary Marco Rubio pledged for the Cuban people, with the promise that the Trump administration is working towards "a freer and more prosperous future for Cuba."
A cargo plane from the company 7 Air Cargo took off from Miami International Airport bound for Havana, carrying 700 hygiene kits and 700 food items for Cuban families, according to the State Department.
The farewell event was led by Jeremy P. Lewin, Acting Under Secretary of State for External Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom, and by Viviana Bovo, Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
The distribution was exclusively entrusted to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Cáritas Cuba, and the Catholic Church in Cuba, with no involvement from the Cuban regime.
The mechanism was designed to safeguard the resources: CRS acquires the products directly in the United States and sends them to the island; Cáritas Cuba does not receive cash at any time.
The labels affixed to the packages read "Donation from the people of the United States of America to the citizens of Cuba," along with the Cáritas Cuba logo and the American flag.
Lewin was emphatic in warning the regime against any attempt at interference: "This is not your aid... You are not in a position to make decisions about this," and he added that if the regime interferes, "they will be accountable to their own people and to us."
The flight directly contradicts the statements made by Miguel Díaz-Canel on June 19 before a Dominican television station, when he claimed that aid would not start until after September and that it would not include food or medicine, dismissing the offer as a "joke."
The State Department responded harshly to those claims: "That is completely and utterly false. The shipments include food, as was demonstrated during the inspections conducted in the humanitarian aid phases following Hurricane Melissa."
Despite his public mocking stance, Díaz-Canel had formally accepted the aid in writing.
This Tuesday, Díaz-Canel himself responded to the report "Cuba, Capital of 21st Century Communism" —published on Monday by the State Department— attacking Rubio and labeling him as "one of the most corrupt officials of the current administration, with established connections to drug traffickers and terrorists in Florida."
The 100 million dollar package was announced by Rubio on May 8 from Rome, following his meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, and formalized by the State Department on May 13.
Of that total, 60 million will be managed by the Catholic Church and 40 million by highly reliable independent non-governmental organizations.
It is estimated that the complete package will benefit between 100,000 and 120,000 families across the island.
This first shipment is based on the experience gained from two previous deliveries totaling nine million dollars, directed since January 2026 as a response to Hurricane Melissa, which struck eastern Cuba on October 29, 2025, and affected over three million people.
Cáritas Cuba executed 82% of those previous funds, benefiting approximately 8,800 families in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Las Tunas, Bayamo, and Guantánamo, even reaching remote areas using ox carts and without state mediation.
Rubio summarized Washington's stance in May: "The Cuban people must know that there are 100 million dollars in food and medicine available for them right now, and the only reason they are not receiving it is the Cuban regime."
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