The first vessel of a flotilla carrying medical supplies, food and solar panels arrived in Cuba on Tuesday, providing aid as a US fuel blockade worsens the island’s energy crisis.
The Maguro docked in Havana three days later than planned after contending with strong winds, currents and a troublesome battery on its journey from Mexico.
Approaching Havana’s colonial-era fortifications, the international activists stood on the cabin roof of the boat—symbolically renamed “Granma 2.0” in tribute to the yacht used by Fidel Castro’s guerrilla fighters to launch the 1956 revolution. They held a sign reading “Let Cuba live", while supporters on the dock chanted, “Cuba yes! Blockade no!”
“I wish everyone would unite, even Cubans abroad, and come and do the same because it is the people who are suffering,” said Amado Rodriguez, a 59-year-old driver near Havana Bay.
Earlier shipments arrived by plane from Europe, Latin America and the United States last week as part of an air-and-sea mission, dubbed the Our America Convoy, to deliver roughly 50 tonnes of aid. Two more ships are expected to follow.
Activists said the mission, supported by the government, aims to bring relief to ordinary Cubans amid a de facto US oil blockade initiated by Donald Trump in January. Critics, however, argue it primarily benefits the communist government.
Convoy organiser David Adler told AFP that the mission delivered urgently needed aid directly to Cubans and highlighted “the human costs of Trump’s siege on Cuba". He added: “It demonstrated that international solidarity can triumph over forced isolation.”
Miguel Diaz-Canel, who met members of the convoy last week, said on the social media platform X that Cuba welcomed the Granma 2.0 “with profound gratitude.”
Cuba has suffered seven nationwide blackouts since 2024 – two in the past week – due to ageing thermoelectric plants and oil shortages. The situation worsened after Nicolas Maduro, Cuba’s main regional ally, was captured by US forces in January, and Trump threatened tariffs on countries shipping oil to the island.
The Hong Kong-flagged tanker Sea Horse, previously reported to be taking Russian diesel to Cuba, was instead tracked in Venezuelan waters, according to maritime tracker Kpler.
Trump’s ‘greed’
The Maguro departed from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday with 32 people on board, including activists from Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Mexico and the United States, along with AFP journalists.
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila said other nations should step in to aid Cuba. “We cannot allow the world and international law to be buried under the greed of Donald Trump,” he told AFP. Avila previously helped organise a flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza, which was intercepted by Israeli forces.
The 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said it would send baby formula, food, medical supplies and solar panels to Cuba via Mexico. Mexico itself shipped 3,000 tonnes of aid last month, with more en route.
‘Political sideshow’
Cuba continues to face daily power outages, soaring fuel prices, scarce public transport and uncollected garbage. The government attributes the hardship to the US fuel blockade and the longstanding trade embargo.
Critics, including Cuban exiles, say the convoy serves to politically bolster the Havana government. “All of this is nothing more than a political sideshow,” said Luis Zuniga, now based in Miami. “The electricity crisis in Cuba does not stem from the oil embargo imposed by [Trump]. It dates back to long before that.”
