Dozens of exiles line up with boxes and bags of food, toilet paper, and other basic necessities at parcel delivery companies in Miami’s Little Havana
14ymedio, Pedro Pablo Cortés (EFE), Miami, 13 February 2026 — Cubans in the United States are accelerating shipments of food and medicine to their families, who depend on this aid to survive as the crisis on the Island worsens, but they express to EFE their support for President Donald Trump to increase restrictions so that “the regime falls.”
Dozens of exiles line up with boxes and bags of food, toilet paper and other basic necessities at shipping companies in Miami’s Little Havana, motivated by power cuts in Cuba and the feeling that things will evolve quickly. Among them is Manuela Labori, who is sending aid to her 90-year-old mother.
“What she’s eating is from the three of the children she has here, and we have to send her the medicine she needs as well. She can’t even walk because her knees are damaged; the cartilage and bone have worn away, and the hospitals have nothing to relieve her pain or perform surgery,” she tells EFE.
“There should be a complete blockade, shutting down everything so we can’t even send anything, because that’s the only way the communist regime will fall.”
The UN Human Rights Office warned on Friday that Washington is “failing” to comply with international law with the sanctions it imposed in January to prevent oil supplies to Cuba, which is causing the “dismantling” of the food, health and water supply systems.
But Labori, who has lived in Florida for over 40 years, considers Trump’s measures “excellent” and asks for more, even if it means no longer sending aid to her family.
“It should be a complete blockade, shutting everything down, preventing us from sending anything, because that’s the only way the communist regime will fall. Communism has no place anywhere. They should end it for good,” she exclaims.
Humanitarian donations from the US to Cuba nearly doubled in 2025, with 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 US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.
Although many on the island “depend heavily” on the exiles, former political prisoner Ángel de la Fana, leader of the Los Plantados group, points out that “the vast majority do not have relatives in exile who can send them help.”
“[We need to] increase the pressure because it’s not enough for us in exile to send aid to our families. What we need is for the Cuban people to be free, to have the freedom to create wealth, to be able to produce food,” he argues.
Cuban-American lawmakers in Florida have asked Trump to ban remittances to Cuba, as well as flights, and business licenses for companies “doing business with the regime,” while the cities of Miami and Hialeah investigate hundreds of companies with possible ties to the Cuban government, including parcel services.
José Daniel Ferrer, a Cuban opposition leader who arrived in the United States last October, believes that the shipment of “basic supplies” should “still be allowed.”
José Daniel Ferrer, a Cuban opposition leader who arrived in the United States last October, believes that the shipment of “basic supplies” such as “food, medicine and hygiene products” should still be allowed because “many need them,” but he calls for a ban on other “luxury, entertainment or pleasure” items.
During a tour of several shipping agencies, service employees and immigrants refused to speak to EFE for fear of reprisals from the Cuban government or U.S. authorities.
Others, like Usmara Matamoros, fear that the US restrictions will not bring changes to the island and will only mean that their relatives will not have the products they are sent from Miami.
“No, I don’t agree because imagine how they’re going to live,” he told EFE. “They’re nothing without us.”
Some send whatever they can regardless of the political context or whether there are requests for help, like Teresa Martínez, who sends “medicine, rice, milk, anything that can be food” whenever she has the opportunity.
“They don’t ask me, I send them things because I know they need everything, and there are two little children that I send to every month,” she says through tears.
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