The Nuestra America Convoy said that the sailboats were led by ‘experienced sailors’ with access to safety equipment.
Published On 27 Mar 2026
Two sailboats carrying aid to Cuba have been located and their crews are safe a day after the Mexican navy said it launched a search for the missing vessels.
“We are relieved to confirm that the two sailboats have been located by the Mexican navy, the crews are safe, and the vessels are continuing their journey to Havana,” a spokesperson for the Nuestra America Convoy said in a statement on Saturday.
The convoy remains on track to deliver “urgently needed humanitarian aid” to the Cuban people, the spokesperson added.
Nine people were on board the two vessels, which departed from Isla Mujeres in Mexico on March 20. They were initially expected to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
The sailboats are part of an expedition organised by the Nuesta America Convoy, which has accused the US government of “strangling” Cuba by “cutting off fuel, flights, and critical supplies for survival”.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was among those voicing anxiety on Friday about the fate of the boats.
“We express our particular concern regarding the two Mexican vessels transporting solidarity aid to #Cuba as part of the #ConvoyNuestraAmérica,” he wrote on social media.
Earlier, the US Coast Guard issued a statement saying the boats had been located.
The convoy comes in response to worsening humanitarian conditions in Cuba, which has largely been cut off from foreign oil supplies since January.
That month, the US launched a military operation to abduct and imprison then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. After the attack, US President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela, a close regional ally of Cuba, would no longer supply the island money or oil.
Trump went further on January 29 when he declared Cuba a national security threat and pledged to impose tariffs on any country that provided the island with oil, whether directly or indirectly.
The Trump administration has signalled it would like to see regime change in Cuba, a position reiterated by top US diplomat Marco Rubio on Friday.
“Cuba’s economy needs to change and their economy can’t change unless the system of government changes. It’s that simple,” said Rubio, a Cuban American long opposed to the Havana government.
On Friday, Trump was again quoted as saying during an event on Friday in Miami that “Cuba is next” in his plan.
Cuba has been the subject of a long-running US embargo since the 1960s. But Trump has upped US pressure against the island, leading the United Nations to warn of a humanitarian “collapse” on the island.
Its energy grid, a system largely considered antiquated, relies heavily on fossil fuels to function.
On March 21, Cuba faced its second island-wide blackout in less than a week, and medical professionals have sounded the alarm that patients will die as critical care becomes impossible without electricity.
Mexico and other countries have increased their humanitarian aid to Cuba amid the crisis, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sending ships laden with supplies.
The Nuestra America Convoy initially sent several ships to Cuba last Friday.
One of them, a former fishing boat, arrived safely in Havana on Tuesday with 14 tonnes of food and medicine, 73 solar panels, and about a dozen bicycles. It had been escorted by the Mexican navy for part of its voyage.
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