Mexico sends more aid to Cuba
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The Mexican Navy ship ARM Huasteco (AMP01) arrives at Havana Bay carrying humanitarian aid on Feb 28. It is one of two navy vessels that arrived in Cuba carrying almost 1,100 tonnes of aid.
PHOTO: AFP
HAVANA - Two Mexican navy vessels carrying almost 1,100 tonnes of humanitarian aid arrived in Cuba on Feb 28 in the second such shipment in a month as the island endures intense US pressure.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to starve Cuba of oil
Earlier this week, his administration eased what amounts to an energy blockade, allowing oil shipments to private companies in Cuba but not the government or the military.
The Mexican navy ships Papaloapan and Huasteco, which were dispatched on Feb 24 by Mexico’s leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum, were seen arriving at the port of Havana early on Feb 28.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry said the ships are carrying about 1,100 tonnes of aid for the civilian population, including about 20 tonnes of food donated by Mexican locals as part of an aid drive.
In the first Mexican aid shipment, two ships arrived on Feb 12 carrying about 740 tonnes of fresh and powdered milk, meat, beans, rice and personal hygiene items.
Mr Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, have made no secret of their desire to bring about regime change
The US President has said Cuba is “ready to fall”.
The island of 9.6 million inhabitants, under a US trade embargo since 1962, has for years been mired in a severe economic crisis marked by extended power cuts and shortages of fuel, medicine and food.
It has now also been cut off from critical oil supplies from Venezuela and from Mexico under the threat of US tariffs.
The resulting shortages have threatened to plunge Cuba into complete darkness, with power plants struggling to keep the lights on. AFP
