WASHINGTON

The US is prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday.

“We are prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba affected by the hurricane,” Rubio said in a post on the US social media company X.

In a separate statement, Rubio said, the Trump Administration stands with the “brave Cuban people who continue to struggle to meet basic needs.”

“As in neighboring Caribbean countries, the Department is issuing a Declaration of Humanitarian Assistance for Cuba and is prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly and via local partners who can most effectively deliver it to those in need,” he wrote.

He added that US law includes “exemptions and authorizations relating to private donations of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods to Cuba, as well as disaster response.”

The State Department also announced on X that US teams are already on the ground in the Caribbean to deliver life-saving supplies to those impacted by the storm.

Hurricane Melissa has killed at least 34 people across the Caribbean after striking Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba, before weakening to a Category 2 hurricane as it moved toward Bermuda.

The hurricane caused severe damage, flooding and evacuations in parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba, with the Turks and Caicos Islands also placed under warnings.

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city, suffered extensive damage, while Jamaica’s southwestern parish of St Elizabeth was left buried in mud and debris.

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly reaffirmed its demand for Washington to end its decades-old embargo on Cuba, with 165 nations voting in favor and seven opposing.

US embargoes against the island began in 1960 and were expanded over subsequent years. While the embargo was eased in 2000 to allow food and humanitarian goods to be sent to Cuba, most American business with the island remains prohibited.