President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed this Monday the shipment of oil from Mexico to Cuba as part of bilateral agreements on “energy and financial cooperation” and in “continuation of a series of supports” that have been provided “historically” to the Caribbean island. “First, we do it within a legal framework as a sovereign country, and second, we continue a series of supports that our country has historically given to Cuba,” stated the head of state at her morning press conference after information from EFE about the delivery of 80,000 barrels of fuel from Mexico to the Caribbean island to alleviate the blackout crisis. The head of the Executive branch did not provide details on prices or the number of barrels delivered by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to Cuba. However, she emphasized that “everything is legal and is part of something that has been done” with the island “for a long time.” Sheinbaum pointed out that later Pemex will disclose the price information, as well as transportation, loading, and unloading costs, but she recalled that these deliveries are also made for “humanitarian reasons for the people of Cuba.” “The Mexico-Cuba relationship is historical, Mexico was the only country that opposed the blockade from the first moment (in the Organization of American States), so regardless of the political party, there has been a Mexico-Cuba relationship, it is not something new, and everything is done within the law,” stressed the Mexican ruler at the National Palace. Sheinbaum presented the media with a chronology of this bilateral relationship since 1994, when Mexico made an investment of 350 million dollars for the “modernization” of the Camilo Cienfuegos Cuban refinery. Likewise, she recalled that from the mandate of former President Luis Echeverría (1970-1976) to that of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), there have been official visits to the Caribbean island, although, she stated that she “does not have planned” to visit Cuba at this moment. Sheinbaum's response comes after last week two vessels departing from Mexico with a total of 80,000 barrels of fuel set sail for Cuba to help alleviate the island's blackout crisis, according to data from the University of Texas Energy Institute (USA) provided to EFE. The two vessels will supply hydrocarbons to Cuba at a critical moment for the island, which suffers from power cuts of 20 or more hours daily in large areas of its territory and amid doubts that Venezuela, due to U.S. military pressure, can maintain its position as the island's main oil supplier.
