How to help victims of Hurricane Ian in Cuba

In the week since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cuba, flattening buildings and shutting down the island’s power grid, protests have erupted in the streets over prolonged power outages that have fueled food spoilage and further civil unrest.

Ricardo Torres Pérez, a Cuban-born economist and faculty member at American University, said the Category 3 hurricane that swept through the western region of the island was a devastating blow to an already struggling economy.

“This is a tragedy for thousands of Cubans. You shouldn’t underestimate that,” said Torres Pérez. “It’s not a disaster because it’s not affecting the whole country, but it’s having a serious impact on the very weak economy.”

According to Torres Pérez, tobacco production in particular has come to a standstill in the province of Pinar del Río.

“It’s an industry that’s already had problems,” he said. “All the infrastructure associated with the industry is gone, so they have to start from scratch. This is a big impact and will be felt in terms of that revenue this year and next.”

Michael Doering, World Help’s Latin America liaison, traveled to Cuba to meet with the Christian humanitarian organization’s network of congregations and house churches, which number in the thousands across the island.

“The stories I heard were just disastrous,” Doering said. “Essentially entire villages were destroyed and none of the crops survived. There really is no other way to describe it.”

Delivering disaster relief on the Caribbean’s largest island can be difficult amid sanctions, embargoes and political tensions between the US and Cuba.

Manolo De Los Santos, co-executive director of the New York City-based People’s Forum, spent six years at Dr. Global Ministries’ Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Havana. He remained associated with the Cuban religious institution after returning to the US, and a partnership between the center and the People’s Forum has grown into thousands of grassroots organizers across the island. Despite those connections, they still face limitations when it comes to receiving and delivering aid on the Caribbean’s largest island.

“The center is definitely accepting donations, but they face a big challenge, which is that the bank they use in Cuba, for example, is sanctioned by the US government,” De Los Santos said. “We’re scratching our heads trying to figure out how to get resources directly to them.”

Members of the United Nations General Assembly have continued to call for the US to end its economic blockade against Cuba through successive resolutions spanning nearly three decades since 1992.

Earlier this year, the State Department lifted donation limits, allowing anyone in the United States, regardless of Cuban origin, to send an unlimited amount of money to individuals on the island. The Biden administration made the announcement in May, and the policy went into effect in early June.

Torres Pérez said the move could ease financial strains stemming from humanitarian crises, including Ian.

“It happened in time,” he said. “People have the right to help their loved ones no matter what. They will have new channels to legally transfer funds to their close friends in Cuba.”

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control approves the necessary licenses to send disaster relief to Cubans. Although an embargo is still in place, there are exceptions that allow certain forms of humanitarian aid to the island, including food and medicine.

“The aid we sent must be officially channeled. A permit is required to import the containers,” said Doering.

Even when aid arrives on the island, distribution can be a challenge.

“Cuba today is still a totalitarian society where the state is the only provider of emergency or humanitarian assistance,” said Sebastián Arcos, associate director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. “Even when aid is offered by foreign governments, entities, or Cuban exiles, the Cuban government prefers to collect and distribute such aid.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Cuban government asked the US for help after Hurricane Ian.

Arcos said the distribution of disaster relief is viewed by the Cuban government as a “highly political matter” and “a threat to its absolute control over society.”

“The only exception to this rule is the Cuban Catholic Church,” Arcos added, “which has had a limited ability to channel humanitarian aid.”

Catholicism plays a prominent role in Cuba. The Conference of Cuban Catholic Bishops once estimated that 60 percent of the island’s 11 million residents are baptized.

Over the course of two decades, Catholic Aid Services has developed relationships with the Cuban Catholic Church and its humanitarian arm, Caritas Cuba, said Haydee Díaz, who oversees relief efforts in the Caribbean for Catholic Aid Services.

The international faith-based humanitarian organization ships non-perishable foodstuffs such as rice, beans, oil, pasta, sardines, salt and sugar, as well as hygiene items such as soaps, detergents and diapers to Cuba.

“We’re basically trying to make sure that we can support the Cuban Catholic Church by getting these very basic supplies to help people deal with the first few days after the disaster,” Díaz said.

Here are some ways to help

Catholic relief services work with Caritas Cuba to distribute non-perishable food, water and toiletries to Cubans in need. Online donations support these efforts, funding long-term shelter repairs to bolster the island’s fragile housing infrastructure.

World Help is raising funds to send food, clean water and clothing to Cuba in the coming days and weeks.

The People’s Forum is asking for donations to fund the purchase of roofing materials in Mexico that can be shipped directly to their local Cuban partners.

How to avoid charity fraud

• Determine if the organization, nonprofit, or group has a proven track record of providing assistance to those in need.
• Identify local initiatives and efforts based in the areas hardest hit by the natural disaster.
• Beware of phone calls and emails asking for donations.
• Avoid unknown agencies and websites. There is a history of scammers who created websites that look like fundraising sites after a major tragedy, but were actually scams.