China Ships 15,000 Tonnes of Rice to Cuba

China has shipped 15,000 tonnes of rice to Cuba, the first delivery in a 60,000-tonne food aid package, as the island nation faces crippling blackouts and food shortages driven by a tightening US economic blockade.

The shipment arrived at the port of Havana this week, where Chinese Ambassador Hua Xin described it as the largest single food aid package China has provided to Cuba in recent years. “It reflects the solidarity and mutual support between the two countries,” he added.

Cuban Minister of Domestic Trade Betsy Díaz said, despite ongoing fuel constraints, authorities are working to distribute the rice as quickly as possible to the population.

Cuba’s energy crisis has reached critical levels. According to El País, the national grid has collapsed seven times in the past 18 months, including twice in March alone, with some outages lasting up to 24 hours.

In late March, a Russian oil tanker delivered more than 700,000 barrels to the island with U.S. approval, briefly cutting the deficit by nearly half. But supplies ran out within weeks, and by May the situation had deteriorated again.

The food and energy crises are unfolding alongside political tensions. Thousands of Cubans gathered outside the US Embassy in Havana this week in support of former president Raúl Castro after the United States filed criminal charges against him over his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two civilian planes operated by a Cuban-American exile group.