By Dave Sherwood and Sarah Morland
HAVANA/MEXICO CITY, March 27 (Reuters) – Two sailboats reported missing from a convoy transporting humanitarian aid from Mexico to Cuba remain unaccounted for, the U.S. Coast Guard and a spokesperson for the convoy told Reuters on Friday.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the search was “ongoing”.
Earlier on Friday, the AFP cited a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson as saying that the boats had arrived in Cuba safely, but a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson later told Reuters that the initial statement it had provided to the AFP had been incorrect.
The two boats were part of a broader volunteer grassroots aid effort seeking to deliver food, medicine, baby formula and other supplies to the Caribbean’s largest island, amid a U.S. stranglehold on shipments of oil and other supplies that has worsened power outages and led the state to ration services.
The U.S. Coast Guard told Reuters it had been notified of the two missing vessels but had not received a request for assistance for the rescue efforts, which are being led by Mexico and Cuba.
“We remain vigilant and prepared to provide support if requested,” it said.
Mexico’s navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, but have previously said they are in contact with various international rescue centers including the U.S., and that the vessels were well-equipped and its crew experienced sailors from different nationalities.
The boats left on March 21 from Mexico’s southern Caribbean island Isla Mujeres and had been expected to arrive between March 24 and 25.
At a press conference earlier on Friday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the search was ongoing, and that nine people had been on board one of the sailboats.
Cuba’s Center for International Press, which handles queries for Cuban government agencies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the situation. A state-run news program on Friday repeated President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s concern over the missing boats.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood, Raul Cortes and Sarah Morland; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Rosalba O’Brien)
