The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced this Monday that a new ship carrying humanitarian aid will depart for Cuba, marking at least the sixth shipment of this kind since February 2026, as she stated in her morning press conference from the National Palace in Mexico City.
The announcement comes amid increasing pressure from Washington on Havana, which includes expanded economic sanctions, an energy blockade that has nearly completely hindered the entry of crude oil and fuels to the island, and threats from President Donald Trump to take "control" of Cuba "almost immediately."
"We will continue to send humanitarian aid. In fact, today a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba is departing," Sheinbaum stated when asked what more Mexico can do to alleviate the suffering of the Cuban people.
The leader reaffirmed her country's historical stance: "Mexico will always be fraternal and supportive of all nations in the world, and particularly with Cuba."
Regarding the possibility of sending oil, Sheinbaum ruled out that option with a straightforward argument: "They are receiving oil from Russia, so we are focusing on other humanitarian support."
Mexico suspended its crude oil shipments through Pemex on January 27, 2026, following the signing of Executive Order 14380 by Trump, which imposed secondary sanctions on countries supplying oil to the island.
Sheinbaum also recalled Mexico's historical stance regarding the embargo: "We do not agree, and we have never agreed since the very beginning, in 1962, when the blockade against Cuba was proposed."
Since February 2026, Mexico has accumulated more than 3,125 tons of humanitarian aid sent to Cuba, including food, medicine, hygiene products, and solar panels, according to data from the shipment tracking dossier.
The first shipment set sail on February 8 with two ships from the Mexican Navy from Veracruz and arrived in Havana on February 28 with over 1,193 tons of cargo.
The subsequent shipments were made in March: two additional ships arrived on March 13 with food, personal hygiene products, and medical supplies, and the Logistics Support Vessel Huasteco arrived on March 28 with more than 96 tons of beans and rice.
The Cuban energy crisis worsened on January 3, 2026, when the U.S. blocked shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Cuba is experiencing power outages of up to 25 hours a day in more than 55% of the territory, and nearly 96,000 patients are awaiting surgery, including 11,000 children, according to data from the end of March 2026.
On May 1, Trump expanded the sanctions against the Cuban energy, defense, mining, and financial sectors, and on that same day declared at a private event in Florida that the U.S. would take "control" of Cuba "almost immediately" after finishing the "job" in Iran.
This Monday, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, responded to those threats with a call for dialogue: "There is no military solution for Cuba," he stated, urging for "constructive dialogue to ensure that the Cuban people do not continue to suffer so dramatically."
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