Liz Oliva Fernández reports from Santiago de Cuba in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.
Also:
- Our doc Health Under Sanction is now online!
- U.S. offers aid to Cuba but obstructs relief efforts
- Analysis: Why 7 countries voted against Cuba's UN resolution
- Cuba's former ally Ukraine downgrades diplomatic relations
- Former Cuban minister charged with espionage
Melissa Batters Cuba: Our Report on the Ground
Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández was in Guamá, the municipality in the province of Santiago where Hurricane Melissa first made landfall in Cuba. She reported on how homes were totally destroyed, leaving families without shelter, and how community members are supporting each other as they rebuild.
Watch Liz’s report from Guamá.
Liz was also in Santiago, Cuba's second largest city, covering the damage Melissa left in its wake. There, she reported on fallen trees, collapsed power and telephone lines, and structural damage to buildings, but also solidarity among community members as they helped each other in the storm's aftermath.
Watch Liz’s report in collaboration with BreakThrough News.
Liz was also interviewed on Democracy Now!, BBC NewsHour (radio), BBC News (TV), and TRT last week about the impact of the hurricane and the UN vote denouncing the U.S. embargo.
Our Doc Health Under Sanction is Now Online!
In our latest documentary, we speak with Cuban patients and healthcare workers who are struggling to get vital drugs and medical equipment – and look at the toll of the U.S. embargo inside Cuba's hospitals.
Health Under Sanction looks at specific examples of medicines that companies have refused to sell the Cuban Ministry of Public Health since so-called “maximum pressure” U.S. sanctions were imposed by the first Trump administration.
The 25-minute film is directed by Ed Augustin and Reed Lindsay and produced by Belly of the Beast for People & Power, Al Jazeera’s award-winning investigative documentary program. Watch it now!
U.S. Offers Cuba Aid But Obstructs Relief Efforts
The U.S. says it’s coordinating the delivery of $3 million in humanitarian aid through the Catholic Church to Cubans impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
The announcement comes after three days of political back and forth between Washington and Havana, and as U.S. sanctions make it harder for other countries and organizations to get aid to those who need it after the storm.
On October 30, the day after the world once again condemned the U.S. embargo at the UN, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the Trump administration “stands with the brave Cuban people who continue to struggle to meet basic needs” following Hurricane Melissa.
The statement remedied a previous post on X in which Rubio had excluded Cuba from U.S. aid in Melissa's aftermath.
Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossío said on X the same day that the Cuban government had been in contact with the State Department and was “waiting for clarification on how and in what ways they are willing to help.”
And on October 31, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said (in Spanish) the U.S. “had not made any concrete offer nor responded to questions.”
Then, on Sunday, the U.S. State Department announced its coordination with the Catholic Church to distribute $3 million in aid.
The Cuban government expressed gratitude for the “humanitarian gesture” in a statement (in Spanish) and explained the aid would be channeled through the Catholic Relief Services, while a second aid effort was offered by the Archdiocese of Miami.
The Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE) criticized the move: “Channeling assistance only through ‘local partners’ while avoiding cooperation with the public authorities that run health, electricity, water, and housing systems, the critical systems families depend on after a hurricane, turns relief into a hybrid of aid and public relations,” the group said in a statement.
And while this aid from the U.S. will help people in Eastern Cuba get back on their feet, recovery efforts are significantly hindered by U.S. sanctions.
Francisco Pichón, the UN coordinator in Cuba, said after Melissa that the sanctions “exclude Cuba from international financial institutions,” which makes financing the disaster response “extremely difficult.”
The first Trump administration, the Biden administration and the current administration have targeted Cuba’s main sources of income, limiting the amount of money and resources the island can devote to disaster response. The U.S. persecution of oil tankers going to Cuba limits the amounts of fuel available for evacuations, makes logistics even more difficult for first responders, and hampers humanitarian aid delivery – while also worsening power outages and keeping Cubans in the dark.
Analysis: Why 7 Countries Voted Against Cuba at UN
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly called for an end to the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba last week despite intense lobbying by Washington: 165 countries voted in favor of the annual resolution. And yet, seven countries voted against it this year – the highest number since 1992 when the resolution was first put to the UN General Assembly.
We spoke with William LeoGrande, professor of government at American University and one of the foremost experts on Cuba-U.S. relations. He's written and edited several books on the subject.
“The countries who voted against the resolution either depend on the United States, like Israel and Ukraine, or have very conservative governments that are voting against Cuba for ideological reasons,” said LeoGrande.
Watch the video.
Cuba's Former Ally Ukraine Downgrades Diplomatic Relations
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced on October 29 that his country had decided to close its embassy in Havana and “downgrade our diplomatic ties,” just hours after Ukraine voted against Cuba’s UN resolution to condemn the U.S. embargo.
This marks a huge shift, which cuts against decades of solidarity between the two countries.
In the years following the 1986 Chernobyl explosion, thousands of Ukrainian children affected by the accident received free treatment in Cuba.
The program “Children of Chernobyl” began in 1990. Before then, Cuban doctors visited Ukraine, at the time still part of the USSR.
The first group of 139 kids arrived in Havana in March of that year and was welcomed by Fidel Castro.
They stayed in Tarará, a beach town on the outskirts of Havana, and received treatment at some of Cuba’s top hospitals for many years.
The program survived Ukrainian independence, even decades after the fall of the Soviet Union.
By 2011, more than 20,000 Chernobyl kids – and their children – had received treatment in Cuba.
But the war in Ukraine has reshaped the landscape, with Cuba and Ukraine both becoming more dependent on more powerful countries.
Ukraine has relied heavily on U.S. support in the war, while Cuba, asphyxiated by U.S. sanctions, has increasingly turned to Russia for a lifeline.
During a visit to the Kremlin in 2024, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel “wish[ed] Russia success” in Ukraine.
That was one of the reasons offered by Sybiha for his country’s vote against the Cuban resolution and in favor of U.S. sanctions.
LeoGrande told Belly of the Beast that “Cuba at the United Nations has consistently voted for a diplomatic solution to the conflict and has said in the past that the invasion itself was not truly consistent with international law.”
Sybiha also mentioned “the inaction of Cuba’s authorities in response to massive recruitment of Cuban citizens to the Russian occupation army.”
The U.S. used the presence of Cubans in the conflict to pressure countries into voting against the UN resolution.
Cuba has “categorically rejected” U.S. claims about its alleged involvement in the war in Ukraine and has convicted 26 people of mercenarism since 2023.
Former Cuban Minister Charged with Espionage
Alejandro Gil, Cuba’s former deputy prime minister and economy minister, has been charged with espionage, Cuba’s General Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement (in Spanish).
The long list of charges also includes mishandling of classified documents, money laundering, embezzlement, tax evasion, falsification of documents and others.
Gil was suspended from his positions in February 2024. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel at the time accused him of committing “grave errors.”
The espionage charge comes as a surprise. Until now it was widely assumed that Gil’s crimes were only of a financial nature.
The Cuban government did not offer further details on any of the charges.
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