Trump administration offers $100m in aid to Cuba in exchange for reform

The United States has offered $100m in humanitarian assistance to Cuba on the condition that the island’s communist government agrees to “meaningful reforms”. The sum was made public in a statement from the US State Department on Wednesday, though the administration of President Donald Trump underscored it had made the offer privately in the past. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list But the $100m comes with strings: namely, that Cuba’s government commits to Trump-approved changes. “Today, the Department of State is publicly restating the United States’ generous offer to provide an additional $100 million in direct humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people,” the statement said. “The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical living-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance.” The statement marks the latest chapter in an ongoing pressure campaign designed to destabilise Cuba’s communist leadership. Since Cold War tensions in the 1960s, the US has placed a comprehensive trade embargo on the Caribbean island, in part as a reaction to the Cuban Revolution. It has become the longest-running trade embargo in modern history, and the US has justified its continuation by pointing to systematic repression under Cuba’s communist government. But critics have denounced the trade embargo as worsening humanitarian conditions on the island. …