Mexico has paused its crude and fuel shipments to Cuba as President Claudia Sheinbaum says her government is evaluating how to maintain support for the island nation without triggering tariff reprisals from the US.
Sheinbaum on Monday said crude deliveries are suspended while her government assesses its options and diplomatic avenues, after the US government warned it may impose duties on countries supplying oil to Havana as part of efforts to pressure the island.
Mexico had become Cuba's main source of crude after the US tightened sanctions on Venezuelan exports in mid-December, detained former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in early January and exercised stronger control over Venezuela's crude flow in recent weeks.
"These sanctions cannot place the Cuban people in the conditions they are currently facing, regardless of whether one agrees with the Cuban government or not," Sheinbaum said. "It is not right."
Mexico has supplied crude to Cuba for decades, often positioning the shipments as humanitarian support and rejecting external pressure on its foreign policy. But state-owned Pemex recently withdrew a crude cargo scheduled for delivery to Cuba.
Pemex supplied crude and petroleum products to Cuba worth $496mn in 2025, the company's chief executive Victor Rodriguez said last week. The shipments were based on a commercial contract effective since 2023, he said.
