Miami resident Madea Benjamin has been gathering supplies and recruiting hundreds of volunteers from all over the country for a humanitarian trip to Cuba, set to depart Mar 21.
“Just in our group, which is only one of the groups, we’re taking $430,000 worth of medicine. It’s about 6,000 pounds,” Benjamin said.
The trip occurs during a period when U.S. ships have halted oil shipments to the Caribbean country, and President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on any country that ships oil there. The U.S. halted all of Venezuela’s oil shipments to Cuba after capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and was Cuba’s largest supplier.
“First and foremost, it’s a humanitarian mission, but it’s also to denounce U.S. policy, which we think is designed to create hardship for the Cuban people,” Benjamin said.
On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel acknowledged 51 prisoners were being released from Cuba and said the island is in talks with the U.S. about their longstanding differences, but warned an agreement was still far off.
“Am I in favor of talks? Absolutely. Something has to change, and I think this pressure that the U.S. government is putting on the Cuban people—because let’s remember, it’s over 10 million people on the island—are feeling this,” Benjamin said.
Manny Zafra, who has Cuban relatives, said the oil blockade, while harsh, can be used as a negotiation tool. “By suffocating them, they’ll lay out the cards and say, ‘Let’s work together,'” Zafra said, adding, “It’s a big double-bladed sword. You’re suffocating the people, the population, but you’re putting pressure on the government.”
President Trump has been calling for regime change in Cuba, hinting that it could be done through a friendly or unfriendly takeover.
Orlando Gutierrez of the Assembly of Cuban Resistance said he is not optimistic that change will come as long as the same leaders are in power in Havana. “In my opinion, what they’re saying is they won’t change their political system. I think talks are stalled at that key issue,” Gutierrez said.
