Ongoing U.S. sanctions also have deepened one of the worst economic crises to hit Cuba in recent history.
"This gesture of brotherhood has immense significance for the Cuban people, who are heroically resisting the brutal energy blockade, the extreme intensification of the embargo, and the military threat from the U.S. government," said Cuba's Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
Colombia's Presidential Agency for Cooperation said a vessel carrying 100,000 tons of supplies, including food, departed the South American country for Cuba on Friday.
A ship carrying humanitarian aid from Mexico and Uruguay arrived in Havana at the end of last month.