Mexico Sends Naval Ships With Food and Medicine to Cuba

Mexico is sending two naval ships with food and medical supplies to Cuba, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Thursday. The ships will set sail from the port of Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, carrying onboard syringes, oxygen tanks and masks, as well as milk, cans of tuna, beans, flour, cooking oil and gasoline.

The announced shipments are in line with Mexico’s policy of “international solidarity,” the State Department said, which also pledged to continue to assist Latin American and Caribbean countries in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Mexican mission’s announcement came on the same day that the US government announced sanctions against the Cuban secretary of security and a special force for their alleged role in crushing the anti-government protests that began this month.

Latin American governments are divided along ideological lines over the protests in Cuba. Mexico, led by leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has sided with the Cuban government. For example, López Obrador stated that American economic sanctions are the main cause of discontent among the Cuban population.

Chile and Peru, countries with right-wing governments, have just called on the Cuban government to protest pro-democracy.