The island depends increasingly on international solidarity to ease blackouts and shortages
EFE (via 14ymedio), September 12, 2026 / Cuba received the thirteenth shipment of humanitarian aid from Mexico, this time accompanied by donations from the member countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the island’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment (Mincex) reported this Friday.
During the handover ceremony, Mincex’s director general of international cooperation, William Díaz, thanked the people and government of Mexico for their support, as well as the contribution of Caricom’s member states. The director acknowledged that the aid arrives in a context marked by limited access to food, medicine and fuel, caused by the “intensification of the US economic blockade against Cuba.”
For his part, Mexico’s ambassador in Havana, Miguel Díaz Reynoso, criticized the “illegal and reprehensible punishment” of the “intensification of the energy blockade” imposed by the US on the Cuban regime and insisted that “Cuba is not alone.”
Guyana’s ambassador to the island, Halim Majeed, representing Caricom at the ceremony, called for “continuing and repeating these acts of solidarity, however small they may be.”
The arrival of this new shipment adds to other humanitarian aid operations to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis
The contents of the shipment were not clarified by any of the parties present. In recent years, Mexico has been one of the most active regional partners in humanitarian support for Cuba, with shipments of fuel and cargo containing essential goods.
The arrival of this new shipment adds to other humanitarian aid operations received from UN agencies, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, China, South Korea, Japan, Canada and Colombia, to mitigate the effects of the energy and economic crisis on the island, which depends increasingly on international aid.
The Nuestra América Convoy, made up of activists from several countries in Europe, Mexico and the US, and the Spanish NGO Open Arms have also transported several tons of food, medical supplies, solar panels, photovoltaic systems and educational materials.
Cuba has been suffering a deep economic and social crisis for six years, one that has progressively worsened since January with the oil blockade imposed by the US, to which Washington has added a series of sanctions that have reinforced its “maximum pressure” policy on the island, demanding changes to the regime.
The island is experiencing its worst economic crisis since 1959, with shortages of food, fuel and medicine, an inflationary spiral and partial dollarization, compounded by structural weaknesses in its production and prolonged blackouts that can last more than 20 hours and up to several consecutive days in large areas of the country.
Translated by GH.
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