Colombian ship delivers nearly 100 tonnes of aid to Cuba

A ship carrying nearly 100 tonnes of food and essential goods arrived in Cuba from Colombia on Friday. The vessel departed Cartagena in early June and crossed the Havana Bay channel early in the morning under the Colombian flag, escorted by a small Cuban auxiliary vessel.

The shipment included non-perishable food, medicine, hospital supplies, electrical materials, solar panels and other items ordered by President Gustavo Petro.

It also carried seven tonnes of goods collected by solidarity groups, according to the Colombian Presidential Agency for International Cooperation. Last weekend another ship carrying 1,700 tonnes of essential goods from Mexico and Belize reached Havana.

Regular power outages have intensified since President Donald Trump threatened tariffs in late January on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.

Washington announced sanctions against Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company on Thursday. U.S. government sanctioned Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other officials as well as several institutions.

U.S. oil blockade is preventing the United Nations from distributing 170 containers of humanitarian aid. ” He wrote on X that the blockade was “not only hampering the performance of the Cuban economy” but also affecting the work of international organisations.

Both countries have acknowledged that they have held talks, but the scope of them is unknown. Last Thursday, Trump said Cuba has “sort of collapsed” and said “we’re going to handle that as soon as we’ve finished” military operations in Iran. On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced a package of economic reforms aimed at attracting investment, expanding participation by Cubans living abroad in the economy and decentralizing parts of the country’s administration.