MIAMI, United States. – The humanitarian aid sent by the Government of Mexico arrived this Thursday morning at the port of Havana on the logistical support vessels Papaloapan and Isla Holbox, according to Cuban press reports and international.
The Cuban Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, publicly thanked the shipment and attributed it to an instruction from the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum. “In moments where difficulties are overcome, where the intensification of the measures imposed by the Government of the United States and the attempt to suffocate us worsens, it is much more appreciated.” He also stated: “We feel accompanied by Mexico, by its humanity, its solidarity and its brotherhood.”
According to the same official Cuban information, the minister highlighted the participation of Mexican institutions in the operation, including the Ministry of the Navy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy and the Office of the Presidency, and noted that the aid included “food, hygiene products and other belongings” intended for the population.
On the Mexican side, an official statement dated February 8, it stated that the Secretary of the Navy, through the Mexican Navy, sent humanitarian aid to Cuba on the ships Papaloapan and Isla Holbox, which set sail from the port of Veracruz with “more than 814 tons of food” for the civilian population.
The document detailed that the Papaloapan transported “essential foodstuffs”—including liquid milk, meat products, cookies, beans, rice, tuna in water, sardines, and vegetable oil—as well as personal hygiene items, with a load “of around 536 tons,” while on Holbox Island “a little more than 277 tons of powdered milk” were shipped.
That same statement indicated that the Papaloapan left Veracruz at 8:00 a.m. and the Isla Holbox at noon last Sunday, and that both were expected to arrive at their destination in four days, as happened this Thursday. He also added that “there are still more than 1,500 tons of powdered milk and beans pending to be shipped.”
The arrival of the shipment occurs in a context of pressure from Washington on the energy supplies that maintain the Cuban regime. However, after the imposition of tariffs by the United States on countries that sell or deliver fuel to Havana, Mexico chose to send humanitarian aid.
This Wednesday, President Sheinbaum said that her government would send a second shipment of humanitarian aid “in the coming days.”
