Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that US leader Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba could trigger a severe humanitarian crisis.
“It would directly affect hospitals, food, and other basic services for the Cuban people, a situation that must be avoided out of respect for international law and through dialogue between the parties,” the president stated as she read an official response during her regular press conference on Friday, January 30. Mexico is one of the countries that has oil contracts with Cuba and could therefore be sanctioned under the new tariffs imposed by Trump.
“We need to know the scope [of the tariffs] because we also do not want to put our country at risk in terms of tariffs,” she added.
Sheinbaum revealed that she had asked Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to seek immediate communication with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in order to learn the precise details of the new measure, as well as to emphasize to Rubio that “a humanitarian crisis must be prevented.”
She also clarified that Mexico only sends 1% of its oil production to Cuba and that, before making any decision on whether to maintain these contracts with the island, she will wait to engage in dialogue and explain to the US government that many lives could be put at risk. “Our concern is that the Cuban people should not suffer, because not having oil means no electricity generation. Imagine a hospital that cannot function, or an intensive care unit,” she insisted.
Trump Admin Weighs Oil Blockade on Cuba for Regime Change: Politico
Solidarity
Sheinbaum added that Mexico upholds the sovereignty and right to self-determination of peoples, and that it will seek alternative ways to help Cubans going through “a difficult time,” as this is in line with a long-standing tradition of Mexico’s solidarity with Cuba.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that went into effect at midnight, giving him the power to impose tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. This order was signed on the basis that Cuba “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security and foreign policy.
Earlier this week, the Mexican national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) suspended oil shipments to Cuba, but Sheinbaum said that this was due to the terms of the contracts signed with the Cuban government, not to political pressure from the US. “It is a sovereign decision by Pemex,” she said, while guaranteeing that humanitarian aid shipments to Cuba will continue.
The president clarified that Mexico will explore avenues for humanitarian support that do not compromise the country’s economic stability. “We want to explore diplomatic channels and various ways to support…We will find a way, without putting Mexico at risk,” she stated.
For his part, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called Trump’s executive order an attempt to suffocate his country’s economy. “Under a mendacious pretext devoid of any arguments, peddled by those who engage in politicizing and enriching themselves at the expense of our people’s suffering, President Trump intends to suffocate the Cuban economy by imposing tariffs on countries that, in their sovereign right, trade oil with Cuba,” he wrote on social media.
“This new measure demonstrates the fascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal gain,” the Cuban president added. “Did the Secretary of State and his clowns not claim that the blockade did not exist?”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
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