Mexican volunteers load boats with aid for energy‑strapped Cuba
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Cuba is grappling with the fallout of a US squeeze on oil imports that has led to power outages and a worsening economic crisis.
PHOTO: REUTERS
PROGRESO, Mexico – Volunteers in Mexico loaded a fleet of modest boats bound for Cuba with rice, baby wipes and other supplies in a growing grassroots effort to help the island as it grapples with the fallout of a US squeeze on oil imports that has led to power outages and a worsening economic crisis.
At a port in the south-east Mexican state of Yucatan, less than 800km across the Gulf of Mexico from Havana, several dozen people hoisted boxes out of cars and trucks alongside a hand-painted banner declaring: “Let Cuba Live.”
“At the beginning we felt like we were going against the tide, trying to get enough aid,” said Ms Marisela Vega, one of the volunteers. “And suddenly it overflowed... When everyone started finding out, little by little they responded more and more.”
Beans, baby formula, shampoo, and feminine pads have been donated, said Ms Vega. Medications also have been purchased through donations.
The boats were expected to depart on March 20 as part of Nuestra America Convoy, or Our America Convoy, a non-government initiative that is urging volunteers worldwide to send essential goods – especially food, medicines and energy supplies such as batteries and flashlights – to a single collection site in Cuba by March 21, in direct response to measures taken by US President Donald Trump at a time of extreme tension between Washington and Havana.
Washington imposed an oil blockade on the Caribbean communist-run island after capturing then Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, Havana’s greatest benefactor, and Mr Trump this week said he might soon have the “honour of taking Cuba”, amid talks with the Cuban government.
Mexico, a key supplier of fuel before the US ban on deliveries, has sent humanitarian aid to Cuba.
“Cuba has lived through an economic blockade for years that has prevented the Cuban people from being able to develop freely in economic terms,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on March 20. “It is the people of Cuba themselves who must decide how to govern without foreign intervention.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said goods from Europe had arrived on March 20 as part of the Nuestra America aid effort.
“The warmth of the people is welcome,” he said in a social media post. REUTERS
