Cuba has announced the first shipment of nearly 60,000 tons of rice from China, as the Caribbean island nation faces an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed in a series of social media posts on Sunday that the first shipment of 15,000 tons had arrived at the port of Havana the previous day.
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He also expressed his “deep gratitude” not only to China, but also to members of the European Parliament who condemned the pressure campaign faced by the government.
The United States has tightened sanctions on Cuba since January as part of President Donald Trump’s hard-line policy during his second term.
Díaz-Canel compared the situation in Cuba to “genocide” and wrote, “I sincerely thank you for your solidarity and firm and clear condemnation of the collective punishment to which our people are being subjected.”
As President Trump seeks to stem China’s growing influence in Latin America, Cuba has become increasingly dependent on the Asian superpower for aid.
China has already donated solar panels to Cuba to help upgrade its aging energy grid and transition the country away from fossil fuels. According to the International Energy Agency, Cuba currently relies on imports for nearly 60% of its oil supply.
But since the beginning of the year, the Trump administration has largely blocked oil exports to Cuba.
The de facto oil blockade began shortly after January 3, when the United States launched a military operation to kidnap and imprison Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Following this operation, President Trump announced that no more oil or money would be transferred from Venezuela to Cuba.
By the end of the month, he also issued an executive order labeling Cuba as an “extraordinary and unusual threat” to the United States and threatening to impose economic sanctions on countries that supply oil to Cuba.
Since then, only one Russian tanker has been allowed to reach the island. Earlier this month, Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levi announced that the island’s oil supplies had been exhausted.
Cuba is no stranger to power outages, but the recent crisis left the entire island without power and public services such as transportation and health care suspended in many areas.
But President Trump continues to impose sanctions on the island’s communist government, apparently in an attempt to force regime change.
Media reports say he is calling for Díaz-Canel to resign and would accept a situation similar to Venezuela, where Maduro himself has been replaced but his government remains largely intact.
The Trump administration has also sent mixed messages about possible intervention in Cuba, although he has repeatedly indicated that he may consider a military response if Cuba does not yield to its demands.
“I’ve seen other presidents do things for 50, 60 years, and it looks like I’ll be the one to do it,” Trump said in the Oval Office last week.
But negotiations between the two countries are likely to become strained after the Trump administration announced murder charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro for shooting down two planes operated by Cuban exiles in 1996.
Since the 1960s, Cuba has been under a massive trade embargo by the United States, weakening its economy.
However, U.S. officials have accused the Cuban government of economic mismanagement and repression of its people, especially political dissidents.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration had offered Cuba $100 million in humanitarian aid on the condition that it implement “meaningful reforms.”
But in Sunday’s post, Diaz-Canel sought to show defiance in the face of President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign.
“The ‘maximum pressure’ strategy pathologically trumpeted by some in the United States is part of a strategy aimed at justifying a false narrative of impending collapse and thereby paving the way for military intervention,” he wrote.
Díaz-Canel added that Cuba will continue to strengthen ties with China, the United States’ economic and political rival.
“The important bonds of friendship and cooperation that unite us are even stronger at this critical time,” he said.
