Mexico’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday that two naval ships will be sent to Cuba with food and medical supplies after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blamed the US embargo for the country’s worst turmoil in decades.

On Sunday, the ships will leave the Gulf of Mexico port of Veracruz with syringes, oxygen tanks, and masks, as well as powered milk, tuna cans, beans, flour, cooking oil, and fuel.

The shipments exemplify Mexico’s policy of “international solidarity” and it will keep offering humanitarian aid to help Latin American and Caribbean countries tackle the coronavirus pandemic, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The loading of the cargo began early on Thursday, said Marisa Lopez, a spokeswoman for the office of the mayor of Veracruz.

The preparations came on the same day that the U.S. government announced sanctions against a Cuban security minister and a special forces unit for their alleged role in the crackdown on the antigovernmental protests that began this month

The Cuban embassy in Mexico City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Cuban government has blamed the protests mostly on what it calls U.S.-financed “counter-revolutionaries” exploiting economic hardship caused by decades-old U.S. embargo.

Latin American governments have split along ideological lines over the protests in Cuba.

Mexico, run by leftist Lopez Obrador, has sided with Cuba, while Chile and Peru have urged the Communist government to allow pro-democracy protests.