Volunteers in Mexico load boats with aid for energy‑strapped Cuba

PROGRESO, Mexico, March 20 (Reuters) - Volunteers in Mexico loaded a fleet of modest boats bound for Cuba with rice, baby wipes and other supplies in a growing grassroots effort ​to help the island as it grapples with the fallout of a ‌U.S. squeeze on oil imports that has led to power outages and a worsening economic crisis.

At a port in the southeast Mexican state of Yucatan, less than 800 kilometers (497 miles) across the Gulf of Mexico from ​Havana, several dozen people hoisted boxes out of cars and trucks alongside a hand-painted ​banner declaring: “Let Cuba Live.”

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“At the beginning we felt like we were going ⁠against the tide, trying to get enough aid,” said Marisela Vega, one of the ​volunteers. “And suddenly it overflowed. … When everyone started finding out, little by little they responded more ​and more.”

Beans, baby formula, shampoo, and feminine pads have been donated, said Vega. Medications also have been purchased through donations.

The boats were expected to depart on Friday as part of “Nuestra America Convoy,” or “Our America Convoy,” ​a non-government initiative that is urging volunteers worldwide to send essential goods - especially food, ​medicines and energy supplies such as batteries and flashlights - to a single collection site in Cuba by ‌Saturday, in ⁠direct response to measures taken by U.S. President Donald Trump at a time of extreme tension between Washington and Havana.

Washington imposed an oil blockade on the Caribbean communist-run island after capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Havana’s greatest benefactor, and Trump this week said he might ​soon have the “honor of ​taking Cuba,” amid talks ⁠with the Cuban government.

Mexico, a key supplier of fuel before the U.S. ban on deliveries, has sent humanitarian aid to Cuba.

“Cuba has lived through ​an economic blockade for years that has prevented the Cuban people ​from being ⁠able to develop freely in economic terms,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday. “It is the people of Cuba themselves who must decide how to govern without foreign intervention.”

Cuban President Miguel ⁠Diaz-Canel said ​goods from Europe had arrived on Friday as part ​of the “Nuestra America” aid effort.

“The warmth of the people is welcome,” he said in a social media post.

Reporting by ​Lorenzo Hernandez; Additional reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Paul Simao

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