Mexican Navy locates missing Cuba aid boats
Two sailboats that went missing carrying humanitarian aid from southern Mexico to Cuba landed in Havana on Saturday afternoon, hours after Mexico’s navy said it had located the boats days after they went incommunicado because of bad weather.
The vessels carrying at least eight people departed from Isla Mujeres in southern Mexico on March 20 and then lost contact, fuelling concern in Mexico, Cuba and beyond.
In a post on X on Saturday morning, the Navy said an aircraft spotted the boats 80 nautical miles northwest of Havana, Cuba. Upon arriving to the island, Adnaan Stumo, the coordinator of the sailing convoy, said bad weather was responsible for the delay because the boats had to take a longer route and the sailors were “never in any serious danger.”
He thanked Mexico’s navy, which escorted one of the boats into Havana Bay, for its support and for making sure they were OK, and said they were “delighted” to start delivering aid to Cubans on the island.
“We arrive with a simple but powerful message: solidarity with the Cuban people doesn’t stop at borders. It crosses oceans,” Stumo, a US citizen, said. “Over the past week, our sailboats encountered difficult conditions at sea, during which we lost contact with convoy coordinators and maritime authorities alike.”
The organization Nuestra America Convoy said Friday that, based on the speed of the vessels reported to the Cuban maritime authorities, the window of arrival for the boats in Havana should be between Friday and Saturday and that the boats were led by experienced sailors.
James Schneider, communications director for Progressive International, who helped coordinate the Nuestra America convoy to Cuba, thanked Mexican and Cuban authorities for their help on Saturday and said he was “relieved” to hear they were safe.
“The crews are safe, and the vessels are continuing their journey to Havana,” he said Saturday morning. “The convoy remains on track to complete its mission, delivering urgently needed humanitarian aid to the Cuban people.”
