(Bloomberg) — Mexico and Cuba are scrambling to locate two small vessels that were delivering aid to the island as part of growing solidarity missions in the face of increased U.S. pressure on the government in Havana.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters Friday that authorities were searching for two sailboats that left Mexico a week ago to make the 200-mile (322-kilometer) journey. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel previously said on X that his nation was “doing everything possible to find and save our brothers in arms.”
The US Coast Guard said it was notified by Mexican authorities of the two missing boats on Thursday. The agency has not yet been asked to assist in the search, although it stands ready to do so if requested, according to an emailed statement.
Washington is turning Cuba around, hoping to topple the 67-year-old communist regime. Since Donald Trump ordered the capture of the island’s main ally Venezuela on January 3, the US has imposed a near-total blockade of fuel supplies to the Caribbean nation, worsening blackouts and economic decline.
In a rare press conference on March 13, Díaz-Canel confirmed for the first time that talks are in place with US officials. The island has also not received a shipment of fuel for over three months.
Still, Mexico and others are sending food, medicine and other forms of aid. Last week, a group of progressive activists, including former British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, former Spanish politician Pablo Iglesias and American political streamer Hasan Piker, delivered about 14 tons of aid as part of the “Our America Convoy.”
But Cuba’s longtime ally Moscow appears ready to test the US blockade.
Anatoly Kolodkin left Russia on March 8 carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The Russian-flagged tanker broadcast its destination as “Atlantic for order”, but analysts suspect it intends to dock at the Cuban port of Matanzas.
The Sea Horse, another tanker carrying Russian fuel originally bound for the island, changed course earlier this month. It diverted to Venezuela after the Treasury Department clarified that Cuba remains ineligible to receive Russian oil, despite the easing of sanctions on other countries buying Moscow’s oil in an effort to tame soaring oil prices amid the US-Israel war in Iran.
–With help from Ella Feldman.
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