Activists say aid delivery is ‘small gesture of solidarity’ to draw attention to US energy blockade.
Published on 24 March 2026
The first boat of a humanitarian aid flotilla has arrived in Cuba to support the island amid a worsening US energy blockade, which is deepening its economic and energy crisis.
A boat carrying about 30 people, including food, medicine, solar panels and bicycles, arrived in the capital Havana on Tuesday, part of the “Nuestra America” or “Our America” convoy that left Mexico last week.
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Activist Thiago Avila said of the US blockade, “There should not be this type of economic war, this attitude of a pirate state that does not respect international law.” Cuban officials say this has resulted in an almost complete ban on petroleum imports for the past three months.
“These ships are a drop in the ocean of need,” Avila said. “At the same time, it’s also a sign of solidarity.”
The convoy comes as US President Donald Trump and his allies express a desire for regime change in Cuba, using more energy sanctions to further cripple the Cuban economy. Trump has said he could “take over” Cuba and elect a government more responsive to American demands.
On Tuesday, the ship – dubbed “Granma 2.0” in reference to the boat that carried Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro to the island in an effort to overthrow the regime of U.S.-backed strongman Fulgencio Batista – departed from Puerto Progreso in Merida, Mexico, last week. Two other ships are also on the way.
More than 650 participants from 33 countries arrived on the island last weekend as part of the flotilla and were welcomed by President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
The US has imposed economic sanctions against Cuba for decades, but the energy embargo has cut off a vital economic lifeline and contributed to a series of widespread blackouts.
Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines Argelio Abad Vigo said last week that the island, which produces only 40 percent of the fuel it needs, had gone three months without access to vital supplies of diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas.
A YouGov poll in February found that 46 percent of people in the US disapprove of an energy blockade, while 28 percent support it. A smaller plurality of 29 percent also said the U.S. approach toward Cuba was too harsh, while 26 percent said it was about right. Only 11 percent said the approach was very liberal.
