Canada is sending $8 million in food aid to people in Cuba, where a U.S. oil blockade has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and MP Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, say the funding is aimed at addressing urgent needs.
The funding will be delivered through United Nations agencies instead of the Cuban government.
Global Affairs Canada has warned travellers for more than a year of “shortages of basic necessities, including food, medicine and fuel,” across most of Cuba.
The island lost its main source of fuel in January when the U.S. took control of Venezuela’s oil reserves and Washington has since threatened tariffs on countries sending Cuba fuel.
Trump rescinded the tariff threat last week after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his ability to impose tariffs under national emergency powers.
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The government press release does not mention the U.S. actions contributing to the crisis in Cuba. It says the situation has been “compounded by last year’s challenges, including Hurricane Melissa.”
Officials in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration have suggested economic pressure could topple the communist regime, but a Canadian official told a parliamentary committee Tuesday that the Cuban government is stable.
Cuba’s ambassador to Canada Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz told the same committee the U.S. blockade is “suffocating an entire people” and urged Canada and other “friends” of Cuba to help.
Mexico on Tuesday sent its own humanitarian aid package to Cuba, its second delivery to the island this year. The 1,193 tons of supplies are expected to arrive by ship on Saturday.
—Additional files from Global News
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