Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Monday the shipment of oil from Mexico to Cuba as part of bilateral agreements on “energy and financial cooperation” and in “continuity with a series of support” that have been given “historically” to the Caribbean island.

“First, “We are doing this within a legal framework as a sovereign nation, and second, we are continuing a series of support measures that our country has historically provided to Cuba,” the president stated at her morning press conference following EFE's report of the delivery of 80,000 barrels of fuel from Mexico to the Caribbean island to alleviate the blackout crisis. The president did not provide details on the prices or quantities of barrels delivered by Petroleos 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 indicated that Pemex will later release information on the price, as well as transportation, loading, and unloading costs, but reiterated that these deliveries are also made for “humanitarian reasons for the people of Cuba.” “The Mexico-Cuba relationship is historic; Mexico was the only country that opposed the first “Despite the blockade (at the Organization of American States (OAS)), there has always been a Mexico-Cuba relationship, regardless of the political party in power. This is nothing new, and everything is done within the framework of the law,” the Mexican president emphasized at the National Palace. Sheinbaum presented the media with a timeline of this bilateral relationship since 1994, the year in which Mexico invested $350 million in the “modernization” of the Cuban refinery Camilo Cienfuegos. She also noted that official visits to the Caribbean island have taken place from the administration of former President Luis Echeverria (1970-1976) to that of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (2018-2024), although she stated that she “has no plans” to visit Cuba at this time.

Sheinbaum's response comes after two ships from Mexico carrying a total of 80,000 barrels of fuel departed for Cuba last week to help alleviate the island's blackout crisis, according to data from the University of Texas Energy Institute (USA) provided to EFE.

The two ships will deliver hydrocarbons to Cuba at a critical time for the island, which is suffering power outages of 20 hours or more daily in large areas of its territory, and amid doubts that Venezuela, due to US military pressure, can remain its main oil supplier. EFE