“The Mexican Navy reports that a Mexican Navy aircraft located the catamaran-type vessels that were being searched for in the Caribbean,” the ministry stated in a message on its social media account.

It added that a Navy ship is heading to the area to provide support and that radio communication is being maintained.

Last Thursday, the Navy launched a search and rescue operation to find the two sailboats, as there had been no communication or confirmation of their arrival until then. The vessels had departed from Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, as part of the Nuestra América Convoy.

The ships “were scheduled to arrive between March 24 and 25 of this year, so the corresponding protocols were activated immediately,” the ministry stated at the time.

The Nuestra America Convoy is one of the international initiatives rejecting the embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba for more than six decades, which was tightened last January through an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump.

The lack of access to fuel resulting from this intensification affects such critical areas as electricity generation, the operation of hospitals, food production and distribution, and water pumping in the island nation.

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