Eduardo González
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) will channel one million euros in humanitarian aid to Cuba to mitigate the consequences of the tightening of the embargo by the United States.
“Given the tightening of the embargo on Cuba and to alleviate the needs of our Cuban brothers and sisters as a result, Spain is providing an emergency response,” announced Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Tuesday in a video distributed to the media, one day after receiving Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez at the Palacio de Viana in Madrid.
“We will channel humanitarian aid from AECID, specifically one million euros in essential food and medical supplies, through the World Food Programme and the Pan American Health Organization,” he added. “Spain is always with all our brothers and sisters in Latin America, and in this case, with the needs of our Cuban brothers and sisters,” he proclaimed.
On January 29, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba and threatening retaliation against those who ignore this decision. The US president also declared a “national emergency” regarding Cuba, considering it an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security.
On Monday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Albares met in Madrid. Rodríguez arrived in Spain as part of a tour of several countries, including Russia, Vietnam, and China, to garner international support in the face of Trump’s tightening of the embargo. Upon his arrival at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cuban minister was greeted with shouts and insults from a group of activists from his country.
During the meeting, held at Rodríguez’s request, the two foreign ministers discussed “the current situation in Cuba following the tightening of the embargo” and analyzed the situation of Spanish companies operating in the country, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Spain will provide humanitarian aid through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) to Cuba via the United Nations system, in the form of food and essential medical supplies,” he continued.
“We reiterate our commitment to strengthening political, economic, and trade dialogue and cooperation for the benefit of both countries, in the current complex international context, in the face of breaches of peace, security, and international law, and the growing aggression of the United States against Cuba,” Bruno Rodríguez wrote on his official Twitter account.
Rodríguez also explained to Albares the situation his country is facing due to the intensification of U.S. policy and denounced the “fuel supply blockade, which is causing suffering to our people,” according to a press release from the Cuban Foreign Ministry.