The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, said this Monday (9) that she will continue sending humanitarian aid to Cuba, after dispatching a first shipment over the weekend that mainly contained food.
“Yes, there will be more support. The people of Mexico are always supportive. No one can ignore the situation that the people of Cuba are experiencing right now due to the sanctions that are being imposed very unfairly by the US on any country that sends oil”, declared Sheinbaum at a press conference.
At the end of January, United States President Donald Trump announced the application of tariffs on products imported from countries that send oil to Cuba.
According to information from the Financial Times newspaper, in 2025, Mexico sent a daily average of 12,284 barrels of oil to Cuba, which corresponded to 44% of the island’s crude oil imports, while Venezuela exported around 9,528 barrels per day (34% of Cuban imports).
According to the British newspaper, Mexican oil exports to Cuba grew 56% last year compared to 2024, while Venezuelan exports, once the main source of the commodity for Cubans, have fallen 63% since 2023.
After the capture of the then Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by American forces on January 3, Trump stated that there will no longer be oil sent from Venezuela to Cuba.
The Financial Times pointed out that Cuba would only have enough oil to last until next week at current levels of demand and domestic production, after Mexico suspended shipments of the commodity to the island (it shipped just one shipment this year, on January 9), fearing retaliation from the United States.
“We are taking all diplomatic actions to prevent tariffs from being imposed on Mexico for sending oil to Cuba. And we are also making an international appeal to the USA”, said Sheinbaum this Monday.
The leftist leader reiterated her rejection of the sanctions and claimed that their impact falls on the population and not necessarily on the Cuban authorities.
“In fact, this sanction that is being imposed on countries that sell oil to Cuba is very unfair. Very unfair. It is not right. Because the sanctions that affect the people are not right. One can agree or not with Cuba’s government regime. But it should never affect the people”, said the leftist president.
