The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, revealed this Wednesday during her morning press conference that during one of her calls with President Donald Trump, she defended the Cuban regime and argued that the island had made progress in economic reforms, according to a video released by the Mexican Presidency.
"Cuba has recently, following the tightening of policies against it, opened its economy in many areas," Sheinbaum stated to the media.
The president noted that she conveyed this argument directly to Trump: "Cuba has also made an effort to open its economy. It would be worth considering this."
Sheinbaum confirmed that she has had around 20 phone calls with the U.S. president and that the Cuban issue was discussed in some of them.
He acknowledged that they do not agree on all matters: "There are issues on which we are in agreement and there are topics, although the calls are always very respectful, where we do not agree, and that's normal."
The president also reiterated Mexico's historic stance on the embargo: "We do not agree with blockades. They harm the people. They do not harm governments; they harm the people." She added that Mexico will always seek "to ensure that the Cuban people are not punished and that dialogue is always pursued, never violent solutions."
The statements come amid a maximum pressure campaign by Washington against Havana.
Since January, the Trump administration has imposed over 240 sanctions against the regime, including Executive Order 14404 of May 1, which expanded secondary sanctions against third parties operating with blocked Cuban entities.
On June 4, Washington imposed personal sanctions against Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife Lis Cuesta, and Alejandro Castro Espín, and on June 11, added CUPET, the Cuban state oil company, to its blacklist. These measures have reduced Cuba's energy imports by between 80% and 90%, exacerbating blackouts and the economic crisis.
The "reforms" that Sheinbaum presented as arguments to Trump were announced by Díaz-Canel on June 12 in a package that includes municipal and business autonomy, openness to investment from the diaspora, and expedited approval for small and medium-sized enterprises.
However, Cuban economists described those measures as "late pragmatism" and insufficient in the face of the worst economic crisis on the island since the Special Period, and they are still awaiting formal approval from the Political Bureau and the National Assembly, scheduled for July.
It is not the first time that Sheinbaum has taken a stand for the Cuban regime against Washington. In January, sheoffered to mediate between Cuba and the United States and defended the oil shipments from Pemex to the island as humanitarian aid. On June 9, sheconfirmed that Mexico would continue sending aid to Cuba despite Trump's sanctions.
"That will always be our position, our opinion, and our solidarity with the Cuban people, which is historic for Mexico," concluded Sheinbaum this Wednesday, in a statement that reinforces her government's alignment with a regime that has been in power for 67 years and which its own economists recognize as responsible for the destruction of the economy that it is now, albeit late, attempting to deregulate.
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