Mexico’s Navy says a search and rescue operation is underway after two ships carrying humanitarian aid toward Cuba went missing in the Caribbean. The ships set sail on March 20, bound for Havana as part of the Nuestra América Flotilla, but failed to arrive as expected and have not been in communication. There are at least nine crew members aboard two ships, including a 4-year-old child; they’re from Cuba, France, Poland and the United States.

In Cuba, doctors report many patients are dying as a direct result of the U.S. oil blockade, which has led to rolling blackouts and severe shortages of food, medicine and equipment. This is Fernando Trujilllo, Cuba’s national director of hospital services.

Dr. Fernando Trujillo: “Our country, which has managed to perform more than 1.2 million operations annually, has had to reduce in recent times to 700,000 — which is still a significant number — due fundamentally to the blockade. Now with all these limitations, we have had to prioritize and limit surgical activity, giving priority especially to serious cases and to what cannot be postponed.”