Navy members stand next to a Cuban and a Mexican flag as the Mexican multipurpose vessel Arm Libertador Bal-02 in the port of Havana, on July 30, 2021. A Mexican Navy ship arrived Friday in Havana with the first part of a shipment with humanitarian aid, in view of the shortage of food and medicines faced by the island, at the worst moment of the coronavirus pandemic. (YAMIL LAGE / AFP)

HAVANA - Cuba this week received shipments of food and medical supplies from allies Mexico, Russia and Bolivia amid the island's economic crisis and a surge in coronavirus cases.

The donations, which authorities started distributing on Friday, come nearly three weeks after unprecedented protests broke out.

On Friday, a Mexican navy ship carrying 1,000 tonnes of beans as well as medical equipment and oxygen for COVID-19 patients arrived in the country, which currently has one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world

Cuba blames the unrest on US-backed mercenaries exploiting hardships it says were largely brought about by decades of US sanctions and disguising attempts at unrest through the campaign #SOSCuba calling for humanitarian aid.

Now it has taken back the humanitarian relief narrative, with the help of allies that have also blamed the US trade embargo for much of Cuba's woes.

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On Friday, a Mexican navy ship carrying 1,000 tonnes of beans as well as medical equipment and oxygen for COVID-19 patients arrived in the country, which currently has one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world. Two more will arrive shortly, Interior Commerce Minister Betsy Díaz said late on Friday on state television.

"I want to personally thank President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who ... has ratified Mexico's traditional rejection of the blockade and its will to help Cuba," Cuban Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca said at the ship-receiving ceremony.

Pedro Monreal, author of a popular blog on Cuban economics, said the relief was "positive as an emergency measure" given the seriousness of the simultaneous health, economic and political crises.

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Ricardo Torres, an economist with the Havana-based Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy, calculated, for example, that Vietnam's promised donation of around 12,000 tonnes of rice would yield some 2 pounds per Cuban.