CUBA · AID
Key Facts
- The country Cuba, a one-party communist state 90 miles from Florida, has lived under a US trade embargo for more than six decades.
- What happened On Wednesday 14 October, the first shipment of US-funded aid for the Catholic Diocese of Matanzas landed at Varadero’s international airport.
- Who gets it first 700 of 2,100 selected families in small towns of Matanzas province, each receiving one box of food and one box of hygiene items.
- The goal 18,200 households across the diocese are due to receive the same kits.
- The money The kits come from a US$100 million US aid offer, including a US$60 million State Department award to Catholic Relief Services.
- Power Index Cuba ranks 14th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 22.5 points (October 2026 edition).
A flight landed at Varadero’s airport in Cuba on Wednesday 14 October, carrying the first US food aid for the Catholic Diocese of Matanzas. Cáritas Cuba, the Church’s charity, said the first 700 of 2,100 selected families each get a box of food and one of hygiene goods.
This US food aid matters to Americans because taxpayers pay for it and the Church, not Cuba’s communist government, hands it out. It belongs to a US$100 million aid offer from Washington, and the diocese expects 18,200 households to receive kits in the end.
What Landed in Varadero
The flight touched down at Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport, which serves Varadero, Cuba’s best-known beach resort, in Matanzas province east of Havana. Bishop Juan Gabriel Díaz Ruiz, head of the Diocese of Matanzas, received the cargo with Cáritas Matanzas director María de los Ángeles Castelo Elías Calles.
Cáritas Matanzas, the diocese’s charity, announced the arrival of the US food aid on the Cáritas Cuba website on Wednesday. Each family receives a module of two boxes, one with basic food products and one with essential personal hygiene items.
Bishop Díaz Ruiz has described the handout as a work of faith. “We are going to distribute this aid from the standpoint of faith,” he said earlier, in words the charity repeated on Wednesday.
Who Gets the Kits First
The first 700 families live in the Vicaría Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, a church district around Unión de Reyes, Bolondrón, Güira and Juan Ávila. The list also names Alacranes, Cabezas, Bermejas and a village called Puerto Rico, which has no link to the US territory.
Cáritas said its parish volunteers chose 2,100 families in that district by the donors’ criteria. The 700 households served first make up one third of that group.
Priority goes to people over 60, people with disabilities or confined to bed, and the chronically ill. Pregnant and nursing women and children under five are also at the front of the line.
The selection starts from food insecurity and difficult access to water, the charity said. Over time, it expects 18,200 households across the diocese to receive the modules.
A Program Paid for by Washington
Cáritas described the US food aid as part of the assistance that the United States government channels through Cáritas Cuba. Cáritas Camagüey has said the charity handles US$60 million of a US$100 million US aid package for Cuba.
According to Cubanet, a Miami-based news site, the State Department said on 13 May that the Church and independent groups would distribute the aid. The news site Periódico Cubano said Washington relies on church networks to reach needy people without interference from the authorities.
On 21 July, Catholic Relief Services, the overseas aid agency of the Catholic Church in the United States, announced a US$60 million State Department award. It said the expanded work with Cáritas Cuba would reach nearly 200,000 households, more than half a million people.
The award also covers household items such as mattresses and blankets for 7,000 people. “Families in Cuba are facing growing hardship as they struggle to put food on the table,” said Sean Callahan, the agency’s president and chief executive.
A Run of Flights Across the Island
Matanzas is the latest diocese to receive US food aid this month. On 1 October, Cáritas Camagüey received 700 modules at Camagüey’s airport for 300 families in Lugareño and 400 in Nuevitas.
A cargo for the Diocese of Ciego de Ávila landed on 6 October at the airport of Santa Clara, in central Cuba. Two days later, Cáritas said 673 kits had been handed out in communities of the Gaspar parish.
On Thursday 8 October, the Diocese of Pinar del Río received 700 food kits and 700 hygiene modules at Havana’s José Martí airport. They went to Candelaria and Quiebra Hacha, two communities in Artemisa province, west of the capital.
In the east, an airlift at the end of September brought 700 food and 700 hygiene modules to the Diocese of Holguín–Las Tunas. Those kits went to families in Sagua de Tánamo and Cayo Mambí who were hit by Hurricane Melissa last year.
What It Means for You
For American taxpayers, this US food aid flight shows where part of the US$100 million offer is going. The money buys food and hygiene kits for older, sick and very young Cubans in small provincial towns.
For Cuban Americans with relatives in Matanzas province, the deliveries run through local Catholic parishes. Cáritas said its parish volunteers pick the families by the donors’ criteria and hand over the boxes themselves.
What Is Not Known
Cáritas has given no date for US food aid to reach the other 1,400 selected families in the district. There is also no timetable for reaching all 18,200 households in the diocese.
The weight of the cargo, the number of boxes on board and the cost of this flight have not been published. It is also unclear how Cuba’s government, led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel of the Communist Party, views the Matanzas deliveries.
More: Cuba news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What US aid arrived in Matanzas, Cuba?
A flight carrying US-funded aid landed at Varadero’s international airport on Wednesday 14 October with food and hygiene kits for the Catholic Diocese of Matanzas. Each family gets one box of basic food and one box of personal hygiene items.
Who will receive the US food aid in Matanzas?
The first 700 of 2,100 selected families in small towns get kits, led by people over 60, the disabled and the chronically ill. Pregnant women and young children also come first, and Cáritas Cuba expects 18,200 households in the diocese to be covered.
Who pays for the aid and who hands it out?
The US government funds it as part of a US$100 million offer, including a US$60 million State Department award to Catholic Relief Services. Cáritas Cuba, the Catholic Church’s charity on the island, distributes it through parish volunteers.
Sources: Cáritas Cuba (Cáritas Matanzas), 14 October 2026; Cáritas Cuba (Cáritas Camagüey), 1 October 2026; Cáritas Cuba (Cáritas Ciego de Ávila), 8 October 2026; Cáritas Cuba (Diocese of Pinar del Río), 8 October 2026; Cáritas Cuba (Holguín–Las Tunas), 2 October 2026; Catholic Relief Services, 21 July 2026; Cubanet, 14 October 2026; Periódico Cubano, 14 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error