A shipment of 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government arrives at Havana’s port as Cuba faces severe food shortages, President Miguel Diaz-Canel says. In a Sunday post on X, Diaz-Canel says the delivery is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes and will reach consumers across Cuba’s provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, as well as health and education institutions.
Both outlets report that China frames the aid as a major food contribution to Cuba. A Chinese ambassador, Hua Xin, tells Cuban television that the 60,000 tonnes represent China’s largest food aid to Cuba in recent years.
The reports also place the shipment in the broader context of Cuba’s economic and energy constraints. Cuba has been under a US trade embargo since 1962, which Havana often links to shortages of food and medicine. The articles also note that Cuba’s energy situation has worsened following changes to oil supplies from Venezuela and related US pressure on energy transfers.
Separate comments and disputes involving the United States and Cuba continue alongside the aid delivery, according to the accounts.
