Cuba

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, exacerbated by the U.S. fuel embargo on the nation.

The bishops of Cuba have postponed their planned visit to Rome after government authorities announced that airlines could no longer refuel due to U.S. tariff threats against countries supplying oil to the island nation.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Jan. 14 that the first in a series of direct humanitarian shipments to Cuba would take place the same day, as well as another Jan. 16.

To totalitarian regimes, suppression of the opposition, in often violent ways, has long been a key to staying in power.