HAVANA (AP) — Hundreds of boxes of humanitarian aid from the U.S. are being distributed in two towns near the Cuban capital, the Catholic Church organization in charge of the distribution said Thursday.
The aid arrived this week and its distribution began on Wednesday. It is shrouded in controversy due to the long-standing political distrust between Cuba and the U.S., and comes amid a crisis on the island exacerbated by an energy embargo imposed in January by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Caritas began distributing the boxes to unspecified parishes and religious houses in the municipalities of Bejucal and Alquízar, which border Havana, according to a statement from the organization.
The food and hygiene kits will be distributed “to the most vulnerable Cuban families,” the statement said.
Images released by the organization showed people unloading brown cardboard boxes donning the U.S. flag, while others wearing white sweatshirts with the Caritas logo handed them out to residents after checking lists and verifying their identification.
Caritas could not be immediately reached for comment.
A plane carrying 700 packages departed Miami on Tuesday, according to the U.S. State Department, which said the shipment is the first in a $60 million program, part of a total of $100 million planned for distribution in the coming months.
The boxes contain enough food to meet a family’s needs for 10 days, Caritas said.
The items include rice, beans, spaghetti, salt, brown sugar, canned sardines, tuna and oil. The kits also include a solar lamp, water purification tablets, a plastic bucket, bars of soap, detergent, a toothbrush and sanitary napkins.
A statement from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade said that authorities were present during the aircraft’s arrival, along with Caritas officials, but did not specify their rank.
Jeremy Lewin, an official with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom, indicated that the partnership with the church is based on a program that last year provided $9 million in direct aid to the island following Hurricane Melissa.
The U.S. has repeatedly expressed its distrust of the donation process, alleging that it is manipulated by the Cuban government, which it frequently accuses of inefficiency.
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People load pallets containing food and hygiene kits for a humanitarian assistance flight to Cuba organized by the Trump administration as the U.S. continues to put pressure on the island's government, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
People load pallets containing food and hygiene kits for a humanitarian assistance flight to Cuba organized by the Trump administration as the U.S. continues to put pressure on the island's government, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
People load pallets containing food and hygiene kits for a humanitarian assistance flight to Cuba organized by the Trump administration as the U.S. continues to put pressure on the island's government, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Tropical Storm Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after grazing southern Louisiana in a slow crawl that triggered heavy surf and some flooding along the Gulf Coast but kept the heaviest rains offshore.
Bertha moved inland about 75 miles (115 kilometers) northeast of Galveston, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. Still packing sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph) when it reached land, the storm expected to weaken rapidly.
No deaths or significant damage have been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The storm triggered some coastal flooding as its center first struck land Wednesday in Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over the Gulf waters.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect Thursday along the Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas. The hurricane center said Bertha could still cause up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of storm surge along the coast and trigger isolated flash flooding from heavy rains in coastal and south Texas.
Tropical storm force winds on Thursday extended as far as 160 miles (260 kilometers) from the storm’s center, the hurricane center said. Still, forecasters expected the storm to weaken rapidly as it moved over inland Texas and dissipate by Friday.
In Galveston, an island city of 53,000 people southeast of Houston, local officials urged residents to brace for a “windy day” and secure any outdoor objects that might become airborne projectiles.
“While no significant impacts are forecast, some gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day,” Galveston’s Office of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post Thursday.
The Galveston Historic Seaport canceled its sightseeing boat tours Thursday afternoon as a precaution, but was otherwise operating normally, said employee Jesi Hahn.
“We’ll definitely be open,” Hahn said. “We usually close for big hurricanes.”
At the nearby Harbor House Hotel and Marina, employee Justin Timber said he wasn’t aware of any canceled reservations.
“It seems like a normal day,” he said. “Restaurants are clicking. Everything’s great.”
Electrical outages across the Gulf Coast were minimal, according to the website poweroutage.us. Still, Bertha’s passage wasn’t harmless.
In Pensacola, Florida, officials closed an area around a storm-damaged beach boardwalk, Mayor D.C. Reeves said Thursday on Facebook. He posted a photo showing part of the boardwalk’s support structure ripped away and a fence damaged nearby.
Strong gales earlier in the week knocked over a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida. Heavy surf and the threat of rip tides had prompted warnings at Gulf Coast beaches for swimmers to stay out of the water.
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Thursday. The hurricane was more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
The hurricane center said swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides in parts of southern California.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Thanawala reported from Atlanta.
Josiah Carpenter, 8, frolics in the floodwaters on Lakeshore Drive along Lake Pontchartrain as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Louisiana Coast Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
This NOAA satellite image taken at 11:40 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Bertha in the Gulf of Mexico moving toward the edge of Louisiana. (NOAA via AP)
Children play near breaking waves on West End Pier on Lake Pontchartrain as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Louisiana Coast Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
