The Vietnam Red Cross symbolically delivered a donation of 100 billion Vietnamese dongs, equivalent to approximately 3.83 million dollars, to the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi this Tuesday, at a time when the island is undergoing a deep economic crisis and questions remain about the transparency in the handling of the international aid received by the Cuban government.
The delivery was made in celebration of the centenary of the birth of the dictator Fidel Castro, which is commemorated on August 13, and the funds come from the collection made during the Humanitarian Month of 2026, reported Vietnamese media.
Do Thi Thu Thao, President of the Central Committee of the Red Cross of Vietnam, delivered the aid to Cuban Ambassador Rogelio Polanco Fuentes during a ceremony that was also attended by representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnam Fatherland Front.
Beyond the economic and symbolic value of the gesture, the delivery once again raises a recurring question regarding the millions in aid received by Havana: how will that money be used and what mechanisms will allow for verification of its final destination?
However, an analysis by elTOQUE regarding the allocation of international donations to Cuba warned that there are no public audits or detailed reports on the execution that allow for independent verification of how these resources are ultimately used.
Millions sent from Vietnam and few public responses
The lack of information regarding the final destination of the aid had already raised questions following the huge solidarity campaign organized by Vietnam in 2025.
On that occasion, more than two million Vietnamese citizens participated in a fundraising effort that raised over 23.3 million dollars for Cuba. So far, no verifiable public reports have been released detailing how those funds were used on the island.
The new delivery adds to a long history of financial and material assistance from Vietnam to the Cuban government.
In November 2025, the Asian country donated four photovoltaic solar parks installed in the province of Mayabeque, with a combined capacity of 80 MW. A month later, it allocated 50 million dollars to the Cuban agricultural sector, while in April of the same year it had sent 10,000 tons of rice.
Vietnamese cooperation stands in contrast to the mechanisms recently chosen by other countries and international organizations to deliver aid to the Cuban population.
The 100 million dollars allocated by the United States to Cuba in 2026 were designed to prevent direct government intervention and are being channeled through organizations such as Catholic Relief Services and Cáritas Cuba. The European Union has also turned to the World Food Program to distribute part of its humanitarian aid on the island.
A help that arrives amid the Cuban crisis
The 3.83 million dollars now delivered by Vietnam arrive at a time when Cuba is experiencing one of the worst economic and social crises in recent decades, marked by prolonged blackouts, shortages of food and fuel, and a significant decline in the purchasing power of the population.
In some areas of the country, power outages have lasted for up to 20 or 25 hours a day, while the Cuban economy has contracted by about 23% since 2019. Additionally, the island relies on imports to meet nearly 70% of its food needs.
Polanco Fuentes himself acknowledged during the ceremony in Hanoi that the aid comes "in a context of extreme difficulty for Cuba," although he attributed the situation to the United States embargo.
The Cuban Embassy in Vietnam also attributed the crisis to the "energy blockade and the threats of military aggression from the United States government," following the official narrative from Havana, which fundamentally blames Washington for the country's economic difficulties.
The new Vietnamese aid represents a financial relief, albeit limited in comparison to the scale of the accumulated needs on the island. However, as has happened with previous international donations, it remains unclear publicly what specific use the funds will have, nor is there currently a mechanism for accountability that would allow Cubans to verify how and among whom the 3.83 million dollars will be distributed.
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