Sailboats carrying aid reach Cuba after going missing

The vessels delivered the final shipments of Our America Convoy, an international humanitarian effort that has brought aid to support Cuba as a US oil blockade deepens the island's energy and economic crisis.

"We are very sorry to make people worried about us. We were never in any real danger," Adnaan Stumo, a 33-year-old American and coordinator of the sailing convoy, told reporters.

"It was not a very difficult journey. It's just a circuitous journey," Stumo said. The boy, he said, "is a strong, young sailor."

"We're so happy to bring a crew from so many different countries that are demonstrating solidarity and support for the Cuban people in the face of this criminal blockade," Stumo said.

The ships were greeted by scores of Cubans, including government officials, chanting "long live the revolution!" and "down with imperialism!"

"They scared us a little because we kept wondering, 'when will they get here?'" Gerardo Hernandez, a former Cuban spy who served time in US prison, told the crowd.

- 'Not worried at all' -

The Friend Ship and Tiger Moth, which set sail from southeast Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on March 20, had been expected to arrive in Cuba on Tuesday or Wednesday.

But the Mexican Navy announced a search-and-rescue mission Thursday after losing communication with them, raising concerns about their fate.

After a tense wait, organizers of the convoy reported early Saturday that the Mexican Navy had finally located the boats and that the crews were safe.

The Navy said one of its aircraft had spotted the sailboats 80 nautical miles northwest of Havana. It then deployed a ship to support them.

Stumo said the crews agreed to take a longer route north after facing strong winds from the east.

Contact was lost with the Mexican Navy because the boat's small satellite link "was on the fritz." They reestablished contact with the Mexican Navy plane.

"We were not worried at all," Stumo said, noting that arriving on schedule is never a sure thing on sailboats. "We are very thankful that the Mexican Navy came out and looked for us last night."

The sailboats brought medicine, food, hygiene products and other supplies.

- 'Cuba is next' -

The first shipments from the convoy arrived by plane from Europe and the United States last week.

A fishing boat that was converted into an aid vessel, which had also left Mexico last week, arrived in Cuba on Tuesday. It had been escorted by a Mexican Navy ship part of the way.

In total, the convoy brought more than 50 tonnes of medical supplies, food, water and solar panels to Cuba, with hospitals among the recipients. 

Cuban exiles in Miami and other critics have slammed the convoy as benefiting the communist government more than ordinary people.

US President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade on Cuba in January after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whose government had been Cuba's principal source of fuel.

Trump has also threatened tariffs on countries that ship oil to Cuba, whose aging electricity system has been hit by regular blackouts, including two nationwide outages last week.

He renewed his threats on Havana on Friday, even as the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its second month, saying "Cuba is next."

bur-lt/msp