Mexico’s Sheinbaum vows humanitarian aid for Cuba
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Sunday that her government plans to send humanitarian assistance to Cuba this week, including food and other essential aid, as the island continues to face severe shortages. Her announcement came amid growing international scrutiny over energy shipments to Havana and followed comments from U.S. President Donald Trump urging Mexico to halt oil exports to the country.
Speaking at a public event in the northern state of Sonora, Sheinbaum said she did not discuss Cuba during a phone call with Trump on Thursday. She emphasized that Mexico’s approach is rooted in humanitarian considerations and diplomacy, saying her administration is seeking to “solve everything related to the oil shipments to Cuba through diplomatic means and for humanitarian reasons.” Trump, however, told reporters earlier that he had directly asked Sheinbaum not to send oil to the island.
Cuba’s energy situation worsened earlier this year after Venezuela suspended its oil exports to the country following a U.S. military operation in January that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Those shipments had already been declining, but the suspension left a significant gap in Cuba’s energy supply. In the wake of Venezuela’s withdrawal, Mexico emerged as Cuba’s primary supplier of crude oil and refined petroleum products.
Mexican oil has long served as a critical lifeline for Cuba’s economy and infrastructure. In its most recent report, Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex said it shipped nearly 20,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba between January and Sept. 30, 2025. That flow, however, appears to have slowed in recent months. After U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico City in September, energy analysts tracking shipments via satellite data reported that exports had dropped to roughly 7,000 barrels per day.
Despite the pressure, Sheinbaum signaled that Mexico intends to continue balancing its relationship with the United States while maintaining what she described as a humanitarian commitment to Cuba, leaving open the question of how future oil shipments and aid deliveries will be handled.
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