Canada sends $8M in food aid to Cuba as humanitarian crisis deepens – National
Canada is sending $8 million in food aid to the people of Cuba, where the US oil embargo has caused a humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and MP Randeep Sarai, the international development secretary, said the funding was aimed at addressing urgent needs.
Funding will be delivered through United Nations agencies instead of the Cuban Government.
Global Affairs Canada has warned travelers for more than a year of “shortages of basic necessities, including food, medicine and fuel,” across Cuba.
The island lost its main source of fuel in January when the United States seized control of Venezuela’s oil reserves and Washington has since threatened tariffs on countries that export Cuban fuel.
Trump withdrew the tariff threat last week after the US Supreme Court revoked his ability to impose tariffs under national emergency powers.
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The government’s press release does not mention US actions that contribute to the Cuban Missile Crisis. It says the situation is “combined with the challenges of the past year, including Hurricane Melissa.”
Officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration have suggested that economic pressure could topple the communist regime, but a Canadian official told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that Cuba’s government is stable.
Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, told the same committee that the US embargo is “suffocating all people” and urged Canada and other “friends” of Cuba to help.
Mexico on Tuesday sent humanitarian aid to Cuba, its second delivery to the island this year. 1,193 tons of cargo is expected to arrive by ship on Saturday.
-Additional files from Global News
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