Mexico’s navy searches for two missing boats involved in Cuba aid convoy

Nine people were on board the two vessels, which departed from Isla Mujeres in Mexico on March 20. They were initially expected to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

The sailboats were part of an expedition organised by the Nuesta America Convoy, which has accused the US government of “strangling” Cuba by “cutting off fuel, flights, and critical supplies for survival”.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was among those voicing anxiety on Friday about the fate of the boats.

“We express our particular concern regarding the two Mexican vessels transporting solidarity aid to #Cuba as part of the #ConvoyNuestraAmérica,” he wrote on social media.

“From our country, we are doing everything possible to search for and rescue these brothers in the struggle.”

Earlier on Friday, the US Coast Guard retracted a statement to the news agency AFP that the boats had been located.

The convoy comes in response to worsening humanitarian conditions in Cuba, which has largely been cut off from foreign oil supplies since January.

That month, the US launched a military operation to abduct and imprison then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. After the attack, US President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela, a close regional ally of Cuba, would no longer supply the island money or oil.

Trump went further on January 29, when he declared Cuba a national security threat and pledged to impose tariffs on any country that provided the island with oil, whether directly or indirectly.

The Trump administration has signalled it would like to see regime change in Cuba, a position reiterated by top US diplomat Marco Rubio on Friday.

“Cuba’s economy needs to change, and their economy can’t change unless the system of government changes. It’s that simple,” said Rubio, a Cuban American long opposed to the Havana government.

“Who’s gonna invest billions of dollars in a communist country? Who’s gonna invest billions of dollars in a communist country run by incompetent communists, which is even worse than communists?”

Cuba has been the subject of a long-running US embargo since the 1960s. But Trump has upped US pressure against the island, leading the United Nations to warn of a humanitarian “collapse” on the island.

Its energy grid, a system largely considered antiquated, relies heavily on fossil fuels to function.

On March 21, Cuba faced its second island-wide blackout in less than a week, and medical professionals have sounded the alarm that patients will die as critical care becomes impossible without electricity.

Mexico and other countries have increased their humanitarian aid to Cuba amid the crisis, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sending ships laden with supplies.

The Nuestra America Convoy initially sent several ships to Cuba last Friday.

One of them, a former fishing boat, arrived safely in Havana on Tuesday with 14 tonnes of food and medicine, 73 solar panels and about a dozen bicycles. It had been escorted by the Mexican Navy for part of its voyage.

The convoy told international media that it was confident the missing sailboats would be recovered, and it added that both were led by “experienced sailors” who had access to signalling and safety equipment.

“We are cooperating fully with the authorities and remain confident in the crews’ ability to reach Havana safely,” the convoy said in a statement.

Still, some in Havana expressed anxiety about the fate of the ships.

“They were coming to help, and now they are missing,” said Yudisel Otto, a 45-year-old taxi driver, told AFP. “It’s sad.”