Two Cuba-bound aid ships found days after disappearing

Two boats filled with humanitarian supplies travelling from Mexico to Cuba have been located days after contact with them was lost in the Caribbean. The Mexican Navy said one of its aircraft had spotted the vessels some 80 nautical miles (148km) from the Cuban capital, Havana. A spokesman for the Nuestra (Our) America Convoy said earlier that the crew were safe. Neither he nor the Mexican Navy gave any explanation about why the Friendship and Tiger Moth had disappeared. The boats are among several vessels that have sought to carry supplies to the island nation since the US imposed an oil blockade in January, prompting a chronic fuel shortage. They departed Isla Mujeres, in Mexico's easternmost state of Quintana Roo, on 20 March, and had been due to arrive at their destination on Monday or Tuesday. There are nine crew members - from Poland, France, Cuba and the US - on board. "The vessels are continuing their journey to [the Cuban capital] Havana," the Nuestra America Convoy spokesman said. "The convoy remains on track to complete its mission - delivering urgently needed humanitarian aid to the Cuban people." In a post on X, the Mexican Navy it was in radio contact with the boats and was sending a vessel of its own to the area "to provide support". Volunteers and non-governmental organisations have largely spearheaded efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba since US President Donald Trump's oil embargo on the communist-run country began. The UN has warned Cuba faces "dire" supply shortages, with more than 50,000 surgeries cancelled in Cuba as fuel supply constraints and ageing infrastructure have caused multiple nationwide blackouts . Coupled with shortages of food and medicine, the situation has triggered rare public dissent in the form of street protests. Earlier in the week, the Cuban government celebrated after receiving another boat carrying 14 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the island. The vessel, dubbed "Granma 2.0" after the boat in which [the late Communist leader] Fidel Castro returned to Cuba to launch its 1950s revolution, delivered solar panels, medicines, baby formula, bicycles and food. Since the US seized former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and cut off the supply of oil from Venezuela - a staunch Cuban regional ally - Trump has turned his attention to the Caribbean island. He has threatened tariffs on any country supplying oil to Cuba, has spoken of a "friendly takeover" of the nation and has urged it to "make a deal" or face unspecified consequences.