Two Mexican ships docked this Thursday (12) in the port of Havana with more than 800 tons of humanitarian aid for Cuba, plunged into a deep economic crisis worsened by pressure from Washington, while Russia and Chile also promised to send assistance to the Caribbean country.
The arrival of the ships Papaloapan and Isla Holbox, sent by the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum, occurs as Mexico negotiates a possible delivery of oil to the island without being sanctioned by the United States, which has threatened to impose tariffs on the country that supplies the input.
According to the Mexican government, the ships transported 814 tons of liquid and powdered milk, meat, cookies, beans, rice and personal hygiene items. In Mexico, there are still “more than 1,500 tons of powdered milk and beans pending shipment” to the island, according to Mexican authorities.
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Sheinbaum had previously stated that humanitarian aid would be sent while diplomatic maneuvers to resume oil supplies were underway. She says that Mexico communicated to the United States that it seeks to promote peaceful dialogue and ensure that Cuba “can receive oil and its derivatives for its daily operations.”
Before Donald Trump’s executive order, state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) had already suspended crude oil shipments to Cuba in January, although it did not clarify the reasons behind the decision.
“Mexico has always been a country in solidarity with Cuba,” Cuban Marila García, 52, told AFP.
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The woman, who was walking along the Malecón, in Havana, recalled that Mexico “was the only country” that maintained relations when Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1962.
For his part, fisherman Eliécer Rodríguez, 34, highlighted that, faced with pressure from Washington, “the only” country “that is responding at the moment is Mexico”. “He was always faithful,” he observed.
Under an embargo by the United States since 1962, Havana accuses Trump of wanting to “asphyxiate” the island’s economy, where, since Monday (9), a package of emergency measures came into force, such as gasoline rationing, a four-day work week in public administration, teleworking and distance university classes.
The fuel shortage also led to a “reduction in on-site staff in hospitals and polyclinics”, as well as in “surgical activity”, explained the Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal, on Monday.
Cuban aviation authorities warned airlines earlier this week that there is not enough fuel to refuel planes on the island. On Monday, Air Canada announced the suspension of flights to Cuba, while other airlines reported delays and stopovers in the Dominican Republic before heading to Havana. The fuel cuts are expected to be another blow to Cuba’s once-thriving tourist economy.
“Sometimes you think things are going to get better, but it’s not like that,” said Javier González, a Cuban who sat on Havana’s famous breakwater to watch the Mexican ships arrive. “We can’t continue like this because it’s too difficult. We’ll have to wait and see.”
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Assistance from Chile and Russia
In Chile, the outgoing government of Gabriel Boric confirmed this Thursday (12) that it plans to send humanitarian aid to Cuba, “taking into account the dramatic situation that the country is experiencing” and “in addition to the political characteristics that its regime may have”.
“It is monetary aid, which no one could really dispute,” Chancellor Alberto van Klaveren told the press, without specifying the amount.
Meanwhile, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on Thursday that Russia could supply oil to Cuba, its strategic ally in the Caribbean, as part of its “humanitarian” assistance.
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“From what we know, Russia is expected to soon provide oil and petroleum products to Cuba as humanitarian aid,” the Moscow Ministry of Economic Development was quoted as saying.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov denounced the United States’ “stifling measures” against the island, which faces a “really critical” situation.
Cuba has been plunged for six years into a serious economic crisis, with strong inflation, prolonged blackouts and shortages of food and medicine, due to the combined effects of the tightening of American sanctions, the low productivity of its centralized economy and the collapse of tourism.
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This situation was worsened by the abrupt suspension of oil supplies from Venezuela, its main fuel supplier for the last 25 years, following the fall of Nicolás Maduro in a US military intervention on January 3.
In a statement released in Geneva, a group of special rapporteurs on human rights condemned the executive order by which Trump threatens to impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island, claiming that Havana represents an “exceptional threat” to the United States.
“Interfering with fuel imports could provoke a serious humanitarian crisis, with knock-on effects on essential services,” warned experts who work for the United Nations, although they do not speak on behalf of the organization.
