US announces $6M in aid for Cuba as island’s leader accuses it of imposing an ‘energy blockade’

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. government on Thursday announced an additional $6 million in aid for Cuba as the island’s crisis deepens and tensions escalate between the two countries, with Cuba’s president accusing the U.S. of an “energy blockade.”

The aid is largely meant for those living in Cuba’s eastern region, which Hurricane Melissa slammed into late last year. The supplies include rice, beans, pasta, cans of tuna and solar lamps that will be delivered by the Catholic Church and Caritas, said U.S. Department of State Senior Official Jeremy Lewin.

He warned that officials with the U.S. embassy in Cuba will be out in the field “making sure that the regime does not take the assistance, divert it, try to politicize it.”

The U.S. previously sent $3 million in disaster relief to Cuban people affected by Melissa.

Lewin rejected that a halt in oil shipments from Venezuela — after the U.S. attacked the South American country and arrested its then leader — is responsible for the humanitarian situation in Cuba.

He said that for years, the island has “hoa...