Havana/Cuba received a new batch of humanitarian aid from the United States, consisting of 600 food and hygiene kits, for families affected by the scourge of Hurricane Melissa, the Catholic organization Cáritas reported this Wednesday.
This donation channeled by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was delivered by members of that humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States to the director of Cáritas Cuba, Carmen María Nodal, at the Antonio Maceo international airport in Santiago de Cuba.
In a message on social networks, Cáritas Cuba described the donation as a “concrete gesture of Christian charity” that the affected families of the diocese of the Holguín and Las Tunas provinces will receive.
“This fraternal fact testifies to the love and service of Christ by contributing to alleviating the material needs of those who suffer the most,” added the institution in charge of distributing aid to the most needy families in eastern Cuba.
“This fraternal event testifies to the love and service of Christ by contributing to alleviating the material needs of those who suffer the most”
This shipment joins other previous humanitarian operations that began to arrive in mid-January by air and sea from the United States to those affected after the devastating passage of Hurricane Melissa through the eastern region of Cuba in October 2025.
The network includes volunteers, parish teams, diocesans and local religious orders and is responsible for delivering donations according to “the degree of impact and vulnerabilities” to “single mothers with small children, older adults, people with disabilities and people with reduced or no mobility,” as explained by Cáritas.
In principle, this aid from the Washington Government was announced for a value of three million dollars, but in February it reported the sending of an additional item of six million dollars.
Donations have included rice, beans, oils, sugar, water purification tablets, pots, cooking utensils, blankets and flashlights.
Washington conditioned the sending of humanitarian aid to not passing through the hands of the Cuban Government and it accepted the entry and distribution through the Catholic Church.
However, at the end of March the Washington Post countedciting the Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski, that logistical support from the State had been needed on occasions, especially because the lack of fuel was preventing land transportation and sea transportation had to be used between Havana and Santiago.
The UN too stated this week that there is aid valued at more than six million dollars that cannot be distributed throughout the Island due to the lack of gasoline and indicated that it is looking for solutions by hiring, through a tender, private companies that can import fuel.
