Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has expressed his deep gratitude to his counterpart Gustavo Petro and the Colombian people after the arrival to the island of a shipment of nearly 100 tons of humanitarian aid from the South American country.
The shipment, transported by the Colombian Navy vessel ARC Caribe, arrived in Havana over the weekend with the aim of supporting the victims of Hurricane Melissa and mitigating the shortages caused by the tightening of the US embargo in recent months, with an oil blockade compounded by successive packages of unilateral coercive measures that have worsened the humanitarian situation in the Caribbean nation.
The Colombian donation consists of basic supplies including non-perishable food, medicine, hospital supplies, electrical materials, household goods, and solar panels.
“This solidarity arrives during difficult times, caused by the criminal blockade policy of the US government. Brotherhood cannot be blocked.”
Upon the shipment’s departure from the port of Cartagena de Indias, the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation explained that the mission is an example of international cooperation and humanitarian assistance between sister nations, strengthening regional solidarity and contributing to the care of communities facing vulnerable conditions.
The operation was jointly coordinated by the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Directorate of Taxes and Customs, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Navy, among other Colombian agencies.
This delivery adds to other previous actions by the government of Gustavo Petro, which sent a donation of medicine and food last April. In November 2025, Bogotá sent 240 tons of aid to address the emergency caused by Hurricane Melissa in eastern Cuba.
The flow of international aid to the island includes other recent operations. A week ago, a donation of 1,700 tons of food and basic goods arrived in Havana from Mexico and Belize.
These shipments are part of the aid operations received in recent months from Brazil, Uruguay, China, Japan, Canada, United Nations agencies, and the Our America Convoy, made up of activists from Europe, Mexico, and the United States.
Cuba is suffering a profound crisis, exacerbated since last January by the oil blockade imposed by the United States, a measure described by the UN as contrary to international law and as collective punishment.
To these provisions, Washington has added additional sanctions packages with a strong extraterritorial component, which have forced the departure from the island of international companies in sectors such as mining and hotels, in addition to aggravating the energy deficit, which affects hospitals as well as transport, productive activity, food distribution, water supply and even the logistics of United Nations humanitarian operations.
IMAGE CREDIT: The Colombian Navy ship ARC Caribe docked in Havana with food, medicine and construction materials. Photo: @DiazCanelB.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
