Canada to Provide Cuba With $8M in Aid Amid Fuel, Food Shortages

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada will provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba to address food shortages, as oil shipments to the country have plummeted and fuel scarcity has disrupted everyday life.

The aid will be released “immediately” and will be delivered through the World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), instead of the Cuban government, Global Affairs Canada said in a Feb. 25 news release. The department noted the aid is part of an international assistance program to strengthen local food security and nutrition.

“As the people of Cuba face significant hardship, Canada stands in solidarity and is providing targeted assistance to help address urgent needs,” Anand said in a Feb. 25 statement. “Through trusted humanitarian partners, we are delivering timely support to vulnerable communities and reaffirming Canada’s commitment to the well-being and dignity of the Cuban people.”

Cuba has been hit by a severe energy shortfall after disruptions to its imports, particularly from Venezuela, which historically supplied much of its oil. U.S. actions earlier this year, including measures that halted Venezuelan exports and authorized extra tariffs on countries supplying oil associated with Cuba, have contributed to the collapse of Cuba’s primary fuel source. Cuba produces around 40 percent of its required fuel, making it vulnerable to blockades.

Canada has not said whether it will be sending oil to Cuba as part of its aid.

Cuban Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee on Feb. 24 that Cuba is so short of fuel that it is unable to transport food.

“We buy wheat in Canada and we have trouble these days transporting the wheat from the port to the warehouses,” Malmierca Diaz said. “Availability of fuel is central to the functioning of an economy.”

“Without energy, every aspect of life in a country is affected — food distribution, public health, transportation, education,” he added.

Anand told reporters on Feb. 25 that she has not discussed Canadian aid intentions with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or the United States. “This is Canadian foreign policy, and we are focused… on the humanitarian situation,” she said.

Conservative MP and Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman says Conservatives support Ottawa’s decision to send humanitarian aid directly to Cubans to address shortages of food and medicine.

“For too long, Cuba has been ruled by communist dictators who have curtailed the rights and freedoms of its people and repressed Cubans simply exercising basic human rights of speech, assembly and association,” Lantsman said in a Feb. 25 post on X.

“The Cuban government has put its own survival ahead of the survival of the Cuban people, with the result of Cubans living in starvation and facing a humanitarian crisis.”

US Moves

Canada’s aid announcement came on the same day the U.S. Treasury Department announced a new licensing policy to streamline the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba in an effort to support the island’s private sector and bolster humanitarian efforts amid the ongoing fuel crisis.

The policy does not cover entities or persons connected to the Cuban military, intelligence services, or other government institutions. The move was done “in accordance with the United States’ support and solidarity for the Cuban people,” the new policy says.

The same day, Cuban officials said the country’s coast guard killed four people and injured six in a gunfire exchange with a U.S.-registered boat that entered its waters from Florida. Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior said people on board the speedboat shot at Cuban personnel before they returned fire.

Rubio told reporters that it was not a U.S. operation and that no U.S. government personnel were involved. He said the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the area of the incident and the United States is working to find out “exactly what happened.”

Global Affairs Canada issued a travel advisory earlier this month, warning Canadian travellers to exercise a “high degree of caution” in Cuba, noting the country is facing shortages of electricity, fuel, and basic necessities such as food, water, and medicine, and that these shortages can also affect beach resorts. The department is currently warning Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to the country.

All Canadian airlines have suspended service to Cuba until further notice, the department says, noting that commercial flights remain available through international airlines but could become limited on short notice.

Kimberly Hayek, Reuters, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.