U.S. embargo allows humanitarian aid to reach Cuba

Several organizations continue to admit that Cubans are not receiving humanitarian aid from the US because of the embargo on the country.

For more than 60 years, the relationship between the United States and Cuba has been “plagued by suspicion and antagonism,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The organization says the strain came from Fidel Castro’s overthrow of a US-backed government in 1959.

On July 11, 2021, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Cuba to voice their grievances against the Cuban government, citing power outages, crippling food and drug shortages and rising inflation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many critics blame a US embargo on Cuba that has existed since 1962 for the bottlenecks.

Now a VERIFY viewer wants to know whether the embargo is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Cuba.

THE QUESTION

Does the US embargo allow humanitarian aid to reach Cuba?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

Yes, the US embargo allows humanitarian aid to be brought into Cuba, but it is unclear whether Cuban citizens will receive it.

The VERIFY team received several questions about the situation in Cuba. Our researchers spent several days investigating this question of whether Cubans received humanitarian aid from the USA despite the embargo. What we found was this: The United States says it is legal to send help and it is sending help. But according to multiple sources from government and non-governmental organizations, there is conflicting information about whether it gets into the hands of Cubans in need.

WHAT WE FOUND

Relations between the US and Cuba became hostile when Fidel Castro and a group of revolutionaries overthrew the US-backed regime of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

In 1961, the US officially severed diplomatic relations with the country, and the Council on Foreign Relations says that was when the US began “covert operations” to overthrow Castro’s regime.

Then, in 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced a major economic embargo on US-Cuba trade “in response to certain measures taken by the Cuban government,” according to the US State Department. The embargo imposed by the US Department of Commerce and the US Treasury Department continues to this day.

At a meeting in New York at United Nations (UN) headquarters on June 23, 2021, weeks before the outbreak of protests in Cuba on July 11, 184 countries voted for a UN resolution calling on the United States to act Embargo on Cuba

During the meeting, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla told the United Nations General Assembly that US sanctions due to the embargo on Cuba have made it difficult for his country to find the medical and food production equipment needed to develop COVID-19 vaccines.

“Like the virus that chokes and kills the blockade, it has to stop,” Rodríguez said.

Meanwhile, Rodney Hunter, the political coordinator of the United States Mission to the United Nations, mentioned during the meeting that, despite the embargo, the United States was “a major supplier of humanitarian goods to the Cuban people and one of Cuba’s major trading partners.”

“Every year we authorize billions of dollars worth of exports to Cuba, including food and other agricultural goods, medicines, medical equipment, telecommunications equipment, other goods and items, to serve the Cuban people. Promoting democracy and human rights remains at the core of our political endeavors, ”said Hunter.

Groups like Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC), a nonprofit that has been promoting US-Cuban health cooperation since 1997, backed the United Nations vote and released a statement on July 13, 2021 claiming the US embargo against Cuba was “strangled”. the country and its ability to have access to hard currency for basic needs. ”

“During the pandemic, the US embargo was directly responsible for stopping much-needed donations of personal protective equipment for health workers, food and medicines. It has slowed the development of Cuba’s own COVID-19 vaccines, which are important for Cuba and other countries, particularly in the Caribbean and Africa. It is directly responsible for many bottlenecks on the island, ”wrote MEDICC.

According to a leaflet released by the US State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, “The embargo remains in place, but US laws and regulations provide for exceptions and permits for the export of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to” Cuba. The US embargo allows humanitarian goods to reach Cuba, and the US government is speeding up requests to export humanitarian or medical goods to Cuba. “

“While Cuban protesters demand respect for their fundamental freedoms and a better future, they also criticize Cuba’s authoritarian regime for failing to meet people’s most basic needs, including food and medicine. We are concerned for the well-being of the Cuban people, ”said the Foreign Ministry. “There are many ways through the Ministry of Commerce, Finance and Transport to expedite the delivery of humanitarian goods to Cuba. We actively encourage those who want to support the Cuban people to use these options and contact us if they have any problems. “

According to the factsheet, the US Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has several general license approvals intended to provide humanitarian aid and aid to the Cuban people.

“The following general licenses (GLs) relate to humanitarian travel, trade and aid with Cuba according to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), as described in the OFAC fact sheet: Providing humanitarian aid and trade to combat COVID 19.” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Biden government says it is “actively pursuing measures that both support the Cuban people and hold the Cuban regime accountable”.

“There are a number of things we would consider in order to help the Cuban people, but other circumstances or a guarantee that the government will not take advantage of them are required – for example, the ability to send money back to Cuba. I would not do that now because it is very likely that the regime will confiscate these remittances or large parts of them, ”President Joe Biden said during a press conference on July 15 at the White House.

On July 22, 2021, the White House released an information sheet stating that the Biden government is working to ensure Cuban citizens have internet access. They will continue to meet with Cuban-US leaders who are helping to raise the voices of protesters in Cuba, and they are reviewing remittance policies to ensure funds get into Cuba without being “skimmed” by the Cuban government. The government is also planning to reoccupy the US embassy in Havana.

More from VERIFY: Fake photos and videos are shared on social media amid anti-government protests in Cuba

The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so you can understand what is true and what is false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, SMS notifications and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Learn more “

Follow us

Would you like something VERIFIED?

Text: 202-410-8808