The United States and Cuba held talks this week on a US offer of $100 million in assistance, which Washington has dangled as an incentive for reforms, a US official said.
Mike Hammer, the acting US ambassador to Havana, met on Monday with Foreign Ministry officials, the State Department official said on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
“We have been in close coordination with the Cubans. We had a meeting yesterday (Monday) and continue to pursue that proposal aggressively, contrary to some of the lies of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the official said.
“We continue to urge the regime to accept the proposal and try to prevent interference with the delivery of assistance,” he said.
The aid would be distributed through Catholic Relief Services and Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Protestant charity, and not handed over directly to the Cuban government, he said.
“The Cuban regime is sitting on several billions of dollars,” he said. “We would urge them to use that money to actually help the Cuban people invest in their infrastructure instead of hoarding it.”
