Dozens of exiles line up with boxes and bags filled with food, toilet paper, and other basic goods at shipping companies in Miami’s Little Havana.
14ymedio, Miami, Pedro Pablo Cortés (EFE), February 13, 2026 – Cubans in the United States are accelerating shipments of food and medicine to their families as the crisis on the Island deepens, where many depend on this aid to survive. At the same time, they told EFE they support President Donald Trump increasing restrictions if it means that “the regime falls.”
Dozens of exiles stand in line with boxes and bags containing food, toilet paper, and other essential goods at shipping companies in Little Havana, motivated by power cuts in Cuba and the sense that events may unfold quickly. Among them is Manuela Labori, who sends aid to her 90-year-old mother.
“What she’s eating is thanks to the children she has here—there are three of us—and the medicines she uses, we have to send them from here. She can’t even walk because of her knees; the cartilage is gone, it’s bone on bone, and in the hospitals there’s nothing to give her relief or to perform surgery,” she told EFE.
“It should be a total blockade, where everything is shut down, not even allowing us to send this, because that’s the only way the communist regime will fall.”
The UN Human Rights Office warned Friday that Washington is “failing to comply” with international law through the sanctions decreed in January to prevent the supply of oil to Cuba, which are causing the “dismantling” of the food, health care, and water supply systems.
But Labori, who has lived in Florida for more than 40 years, considers Trump’s measures “excellent” and calls for more, even if that means no longer being able to send aid to her family.
“It should be a total blockade, shutting everything down, not even allowing us to send this, because that’s the only way the communist regime will fall. Communism has no place anywhere. It should be ended forever,” she exclaimed.
U.S. humanitarian donations to Cuba nearly doubled in 2025, reaching an estimated value of $130.9 million compared to $67.8 million the previous year, including food, medicine, and clothing, according to a report by the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.
Although many on the Island “depend heavily” on the exile community, former political prisoner Ángel de la Fana, leader of the group Los Plantados*, noted that “the vast majority do not have relatives in exile who can send them help.”
“Pressure must be increased because it’s not enough for those of us in exile to send aid to family. What we need is for the Cuban people to be free, to have the freedom to create wealth, to produce food,” he argued.
Cuban-American lawmakers from Florida have asked Trump to ban remittances to Cuba, flights, and licenses for companies “doing business with the regime,” while the cities of Miami and Hialeah are investigating hundreds of companies with possible ties to the Cuban government, including shipping agencies.
José Daniel Ferrer, a Cuban opposition leader who arrived in the United States last October, believes that shipments of “basic supplies” should “still be allowed”
José Daniel Ferrer, a Cuban opposition leader who arrived in the United States last October, believes that shipments of “basic supplies” such as “food, medicine, and hygiene products” should “still be allowed” because “many people need them,” but he calls for banning other items considered “luxury, entertainment, or pleasure.”
During a visit to several shipping agencies, employees and immigrants declined to speak with EFE out of fear of reprisals from the Cuban government or U.S. authorities.
Others, like Usmara Matamoros, fear that U.S. restrictions will not bring change to the Island and will only mean their relatives are left without the products sent from Miami.
“No, I don’t agree because just imagine how they’re going to live,” she told EFE. “Without us, they have nothing.”
Some send whatever they can regardless of the political context or specific requests for help, like Teresa Martínez, who sends “medicine, rice, milk, anything that can serve as food” whenever she has the chance.
“They don’t ask me; I send it because I know they need everything, and there are two little children I send things to every month,” she says through tears.
*Translator’s note: “Plantado’ — literally ’planted’ — is a term with a long history in Cuba and is used to describe a political prisoner who refuses to cooperate in any way with their incarceration.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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