Brazil seeks to ease shortages worsened by the U.S. oil blockade.
On Tuesday, Cuba received the first 16 of 48 tons of powdered milk donated by Brazil to help ease shortages caused by the U.S. oil blockade.
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The first shipment arrived at Antonio Maceo International Airport in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, “in a context marked by the tightening of the U.S. blockade against the island and the restrictions on fuel imports imposed by the U.S. government,” the official newspaper Granma said.
The director of Empresa Lactea Santiago, Eduardo Griñan, thanked Brazil for the donation, saying it “adds to many other expressions of its unconditional solidarity.”
On Monday, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry began shipping the 48 tons of powdered milk to Cuba. The action complements the delivery of medicines and 170,000 tons of rice, 150 tons of black beans and 500 tons of powdered milk, channeled through the World Food Program (WFP). Currently, the Brazilian government is evaluating new donations of food and medicines in the coming months.
Cubans are now cooking with charcoal and firewood. It’s the latest result of the Trump administration’s crippling oil blockade. Only one Russian tanker has docked in Cuba in the last six months.
Al Jazeera’s Ed Augustin reports from Havana. pic.twitter.com/e757dh6SyD
— PeterG d’ Incredible
(@PetergKenya) July 15, 2026
For about the past six years, arbitrary U.S. sanctions have driven Cuba into a crisis characterized by shortages of basic goods, constant power outages, runaway inflation, partial dollarization and the collapse of basic services.
U.S. pressure has further worsened the situation of the Cuban people, especially because of the oil blockade imposed since January. Additionally, in May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order affecting companies and individuals that maintain economic relations with the Cuban state or its companies.
In June, the United Nations reported that it has nearly 20,000 tons of food in Cuba that it cannot distribute or is distributing only with great difficulty and delays because of the fuel shortage.
The World Food Program currently has about 11,000 tons of food stranded at Cuban ports and another 8,000 tons distributed across the country that are facing serious difficulties in being delivered.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – Gramma
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