US offers $100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, urges government approval

The United States government says it is prepared to provide US$100 million in direct humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people, but only if the Cuban government allows it, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department on Wednesday.

The State Department said the offer is part of ongoing efforts to support “meaningful reforms” in Cuba and to address what it described as the effects of the country’s political and economic system.

“The United States continues to seek meaningful reforms to Cuba’s communist system, which has only served to enrich the elites and condemn the Cuban people to poverty,” the department said.

It added that the administration of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously made private offers to the Cuban government, including support for free and fast satellite internet services and additional humanitarian assistance.

The State Department said those offers were not accepted, and repeated that the Cuban authorities had blocked previous attempts to deliver aid.

“The regime refuses to allow the United States to provide this assistance to the Cuban people, who are in desperate need of assistance due to the failures of Cuba’s corrupt regime,” the statement said.

The department said the latest proposal includes coordination with the Catholic Church and other “reliable independent humanitarian organisations” to distribute the funds directly to the Cuban population if approved.

Officials added that the decision now rests with the Cuban government, which they said must choose whether to accept or reject what Washington described as “life-saving aid.”