The spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Tommy Pigott, stated this Monday that the serious humanitarian crisis that Cuba is going through is a "direct consequence of the Cuban regime," which he described as "incompetent." At the same time, he emphasized that "there have been exceptions within the embargo" that Washington has maintained on Havana for decades.
"The humanitarian crisis we are seeing on the island is a direct result of the Cuban regime, of its economic model that does not work and of its own incompetence," Pigott pointed out in an interview granted to NBC, insisting that the current situation responds to the internal policies of the island's Executive.
Next, the spokesperson recalled previous statements from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which he asserted that "the only thing worse than a communist is an incompetent communist," to reinforce his criticism of the performance of the Cuban government.
Pigott stressed that "the United States stands with the Cuban people" and reminded that Washington has "promised up to 100 million dollars (about 86.9 million euros) in aid, in addition to the assistance provided after Hurricane Melissa," which occurred in 2025. He explained that the intention is to channel these funds "through third parties like the Catholic Church, collaborating with local parishes to deliver aid directly to the people who need it."
The spokesperson also defended that "there have always been exceptions within the embargo for food and medicine to reach the population," and added that the White House is "concerned" that, in his opinion, the island's government limits itself to "plundering the resources of the Cuban people to line their own pockets."
These statements come on a day marked by a new power outage on the Caribbean island, the second in less than 24 hours. This episode adds to a scenario in which, after six decades of embargo, an energy blockade was added at the beginning of the year that at times has caused total interruption of supply.