Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Canada has launched a campaign to help Cubans suffering from severe shortages of food, medicine and basic goods, a longstanding issue exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump's fuel embargo on the island nation.

“According to our information, transportation, hospitals, schools and social services are severely affected, and their operations are seriously compromised as the energy supply dwindles,” said Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of ACN Canada. “We also know that families are beginning to run out of food, hygiene products and basic supplies because transportation is no longer functioning and the distribution of goods has become impossible.”

ACN Canada has supported Cubans long before the unfolding contemporary emergency. The Catholic organization was providing aid to Cubans before Lalonde joined 26 years ago. The difficult plight for Cubans — severe shortages of essential goods, lengthy power outages of 20-plus hours and general public disorder (garbage piling up in the streets) — predates the fuel blockade imposed by the U.S. in recent weeks. However, it is evident that problems are now capturing greater attention from the wider world.

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ACN Canada is particularly noting how the Catholic priests and religious sisters on the island are experiencing the full weight of this unfolding crisis, but they continue to serve and offer what little they have.

“They don’t look at religion or any criteria you can imagine,” said Lalonde. “Somebody who is hungry knocks on the door, and we will look in the fridge or in the kitchen and share it. That is what the Church does in Cuba. It is very important that the Church remains strong. They have also had discussions and made a clear decision: they will not leave. They want to be with the people.

“I think their courage should become ours. We should be brave and help them in whatever way we can.”

Cantor Eric Moses of the Beth Sholom Synagogue in Toronto led a delegation from his religious community to Havana at the start of February. They departed on Feb. 8 — the day before major airlines like Air Canada and WestJet began suspending flights. This trip represented the first major Canadian Jewish group to visit the island since 2019. The goal was to lend aid to the Jewish community and to let them know they are not alone.

Echoing the resolve of the Catholic priests and sisters, Moses said the Jewish elders are determined to maintain the community’s presence in Cuba, come what may.

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“The community’s leadership in Cuba have chosen to stay because they feel it is their duty and mission to keep things going because they know if they leave, who is going to take things over,” said Moses. “The young people are making Aliyah, which means the move to Israel.”

Commenting on the humanitarian situation, Moses said the synagogues his group visited also functioned as pharmacies, not only for the Jewish community, but for anybody who stopped by seeking aspirin or an antibiotic.

“The power shortage is a huge issue, 12 to 14 hours per day,” said Moses. “So, you can imagine, we visited seniors in their homes, and we brought them something as basic as solar-powered flashlights. I can't even describe the reaction when I just turned on the light. We take for granted the things we have, and we don't realize how difficult it is for people who are living without the common basic essentials.”

Along with Catholic, Jewish and other faith-driven groups in Canada stepping up to provide aid, they are also disseminating the messages from Cuban religious leaders. For example, ACN Canada is promoting the letter penned by the Cuban Catholic bishops on Jan. 31.

In this communique, the Catholic Bishops of Cuba noted that when they addressed the Catholic faithful last June during the Jubilee Year, “we imagined that things could not get any worse,” but “recent news, announcing among other things the elimination of any possibility of oil entering the country, sets off alarm bells, especially for the most vulnerable. The risk of social chaos and violence among the children of the same people is real. No Cuban of goodwill would rejoice in such a development.”

The bishops added, “Cuba needs change, and the need is increasingly urgent, but it does not need more anguish or more suffering.” They called on disagreements between governments to be resolved “through dialogue and diplomacy, not through coercion or war.”

What resonated most strongly with Lalonde about the bishops' remarks “is the determination to stay, help and maybe be a part of the changes that are coming. The bishops have no political views, but whatever they can do so that the country is better, the people are better, they will do it.”

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As for what could be coming, Moses took note of how his group’s guide would say, “let’s talk about that later,” and her body language would change because “she was worried about who might be listening to conversations at times.” The remarks made by the group that she didn’t feel like she could respond to freely were related to the Communist Party of Cuba regime that came to power through the 1959 Cuban revolution.

“It was general statements about the situation, the political establishment, ‘don’t they see the writing on the wall — something has to give,’ ” said Moses. “This is not a sustainable model. I don’t know how much longer they can make it without fuel. How do you function? How do you turn off the power grid for 12 to 14 hours a day and not eventually have a revolution?”