Mike Hammer, mission chief of the United States Embassy in Havana, met this Wednesday with Carmen María Nodal Martínez, director of Cáritas Cuba, at the organization's headquarters in Havana to coordinate the distribution of humanitarian aid sent by the Trump administration.
The meeting took place a day after the first flight loaded with supplies landed at José Martí International Airport, with 700 food kits and 700 hygiene kits on board a 7Air Cargo plane coming from Miami.
According to information from the U.S. Embassy on their social media, Hammer and Nodal Martínez discussed the delivery mechanism, which operates through the parishes and brings packages directly to the homes of beneficiaries, without the involvement of the Cuban regime.
Additionally, both coordinated upcoming visits from Caritas volunteers and beneficiary families in the municipalities of Bejucal, in Mayabeque, and Alquízar, in Artemisa, where distribution was taking place that same day among the most vulnerable individuals, previously identified by their own communities.
The boxes containing the supplies bear the inscription "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.
The food modules include white rice, black beans, tuna, sardines, vegetable oil, spaghetti, iodized salt, and brown sugar. Some kits also incorporate flashlights, buckets, toothpaste, and toothbrushes.
This first shipment will benefit 700 families from the Archdiocese of Havana, selected based on vulnerability criteria established by the parish communities themselves.
The program is part of the 100 million dollar humanitarian assistance package announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 8 from Rome, after meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, and formalized by the State Department on May 13.
Of the total, 60 million dollars will be managed by the Catholic Church through Catholic Relief Services and Cáritas Cuba, and 40 million by independent non-governmental organizations.
The mechanism was designed to exclude the regime: Catholic Relief Services acquires the products directly in the United States and sends them to the island, while Cáritas Cuba does not receive cash at any time.
The regime reacted to the first shipment with its usual stance: MINCEX blamed Washington for the crisis on the island, although it formally accepted the aid in writing, describing it as "a gesture from the American people."
The Under Secretary of State, Jeremy P. Lewin, was emphatic on the matter: "This is not your aid... You are not in a position to make decisions about this. If you interfere, you will be accountable to your own people and to us."
It is estimated that the full program, once rolled out nationwide, will benefit between 100,000 and 120,000 families in Cuba.
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