Cuba thanks China for humanitarian aid

Moscow (ANTARA) - Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla has thanked China for delivering 15,000 tonnes of rice to Cuba. ‘We are grateful for the delivery of 15,000 tonnes of rice to Cuba, part of the total 60,000 tonnes donated as humanitarian aid by the Chinese party, government, and people,’ Rodriguez wrote on X on Tuesday (26 May). The Cuban minister added that the shipment demonstrates solidarity and fraternal ties between the two nations amid the difficult circumstances currently faced by Cuba and the world. On 29 January, the United States imposed tariffs on oil imports from countries supplying Cuba and declared a state of emergency due to alleged threats to US national security posed by Cuba. Havana stated that the US is using an energy embargo to strangle the island’s economy and worsen living conditions for its residents. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez reiterated on 3 May that US military threats against Cuba have reached unprecedented levels, warning that any aggression would be met with the Cuban people’s resolve to defend their sovereignty and independence. Additionally, the US Department of Justice charged former Cuban President Raul Castro and five Cuban military officers on 20 May in connection with the 1996 shootdown of two aircraft linked to Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Havana dismissed the charges as political provocation, stressing that Cuba acted in self-defence after repeated violations of its airspace by the group’s aircraft.