intense US pressure following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The shipment of 814 tons of aid comes as Mexico is mulling how to send oil to Cuba without being punished by US President Donald Trump, who has vowed tariff punishment for any country that ships petroleum to Cuba.

The foreign ministry said the two navy ships taking supplies to Cuba left Sunday and are expected to arrive in four days. They are carrying fresh and powdered milk, meat, beans, rice and personal hygiene items, and another 1,500 tons of food aid are waiting to be shipped, it added. Cuba's already embattled economy is suffering even more because oil supplies from its traditional leftist ally Venezuela have stopped after the January 3 US attack in which Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured in Caracas and taken to the United States for trial on drug trafficking charges. US President Donald Trump has expressed a willingness to work with interim leader Delcy Rodriguez -- Maduro's former vice president -- and her team provided she toes Washington's line, particularly by granting access to Venezuela's vast oil resources, which she so far has done. Last year, Mexico shipped almost $500 million worth of oil and petroleum derivatives to Cuba, the state-run company Pemex said last week -- less than one percent of its total production. (Bssnews)