Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that the country has not increased oil shipments to Cuba, even as Mexico has become a key supplier following recent disruptions in Venezuela.
"We are not sending more oil than we have sent historically," Sheinbaum said during her daily morning press conference. "Of course, with the current situation in Venezuela, Mexico has obviously become an important supplier. Before, this was Venezuela."
Sheinbaum was responding to reporters' questions about whether Mexico had become Cuba's main source of crude since the US tightened sanctions on Venezuelan exports in mid-December and detained Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January.
Mexico has supplied crude to Cuba for decades under commercial agreements and humanitarian aid programs, Sheinbaum said. Current deliveries remain within those frameworks. "It is part of the contract and also part of the aid that has been provided historically," she said.
The president highlighted Mexico's longstanding energy ties with Cuba, including a $350mn investment in the Cienfuegos refinery in 1994 and technical cooperation agreements signed by state-owned Pemex in 2012. Mexico also forgave about 70pc of Cuba's debt with Bancomext in 2013, much of it linked to hydrocarbons trade.
Sheinbaum earlier framed the shipments as consistent with Mexico's foreign policy and humanitarian commitments, while acknowledging the geopolitical sensitivity given Cuba's strained relations with the US, Mexico's top trading partner.
