Mexico confirms standstill in oil shipments to Cuba

MEXICO CITY

Mexico will continue to assist Cuba with humanitarian aid while exploring ways to resume oil shipments to the island nation, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday during a news conference.

Sheinbaum confirmed that Mexican oil shipments to Cuba are currently at a standstill after US President Donald Trump decreed that all countries supplying oil to the Caribbean nation would be subject to tariffs.

The Mexican president added that her administration is preparing a second shipment of humanitarian aid while seeking to broker an agreement with the US that would allow Mexico to resume oil exports to the country.

“It is very unjust to impose sanctions on countries that sell oil to Cuba. It is very unjust and not right, because sanctions that affect the people are never right. One may agree or disagree with Cuba’s system of government, but the people should never be affected,” she said during the press conference.

On Sunday, Mexico delivered 814 tons of food and supplies to Cuba. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said the navy dispatched two ships carrying milk, crackers, beans, rice, canned tuna, sardines, cooking oil, and personal hygiene items following the disruption of Mexico’s longstanding oil supply due to Trump’s decree.

During her briefing, Sheinbaum made an appeal to the US to allow the resumption of oil shipments to Cuba while reiterating her opposition to and criticism of the stranglehold her northern neighbor has imposed on the country.

“We will continue supporting Cuba and will keep taking all the necessary diplomatic actions to restore oil shipments because you cannot strangle a people in this way. It is deeply unjust, very unjust,” Sheinbaum said.

Mexico is preparing a second shipment with more than 1,500 tons of powdered milk and beans to Cuba in the coming days as negotiations continue with the US in an effort to avoid tariffs on Mexico and resume oil deliveries to the island nation.

Cuba suspends fuel supplies to international flights

Meanwhile, Cuba has suspended fuel supplies to international airlines due to an oil shortage.

The government previously announced that the country will run out of aviation fuel starting Monday due to the US oil blockade, the Spanish wire service EFE reported.

Warning the international airlines operating on the island, officials underlined that the notification will be valid for one month, from Feb. 10 to March 11.

Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva said that measures aim to prioritize fuel conservation to ensure the sustainability of food and electricity production, and to protect foreign exchange-earning economic activities.

Since the Trump administration's Jan. 3 military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a longtime supporter of Cuba's government, the US has sought to strengthen its position on Cuba.

In a late January executive order, Trump described the Cuban regime as posing "an unusual and extraordinary threat," saying that a declaration of a national emergency was necessary.

Cuba meets about one-third of its energy demand with domestic production, according to EFE sources. For the remainder, it depends on imports, primarily from Mexico and, to a lesser degree, Russia, with Venezuela accounting for around 30% of total supplies in 2025.

This week, the Cuban government unveiled a strict emergency plan that includes closing some hotels, cutting back hours at public offices and hospitals, and banning the sale of diesel in an effort to subsist without imported crude oil and its derivatives.