In a recent article I reported that Mexico is Cuba’s Biggest Oil Supplier and Trump is OK With That.
That may be about to change.
From the Associated Press: “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday [January 27] her government has at least temporarily stopped oil shipments to Cuba, but struck an ambiguous tone, saying the pause was part of general fluctuations in oil supplies and that it was a ‘sovereign decision’ not made under pressure from the United States.”
That’s a little hard to believe.
“Sheinbaum was responding to inquiries on whether the state oil company Pemex had cut off oil shipments to Cuba in the wake of mounting pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump that Mexico distance itself from the Cuban government, though U.S. officials have not publicly requested that Mexico stop the oil.”
“ ‘Pemex makes decisions in the contractual relationship it has with Cuba,’ Sheinbaum said in her morning news briefing. ‘Suspending is a sovereign decision and is taken when necessary.’ ”
“Sheinbaum’s vague statements come as Trump has sought to isolate Cuba and further ramp up the pressure on the island, a longtime adversary under strict economic sanctions from Washington. Trump has said the Cuban government is ready to fall, and that the island would receive no more oil shipments from Venezuela after a U.S. military operation deposed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.”
Mexico has had close relations with Cuba ever since the communist takeover in 1959. One reason, I believe, is for Mexico to demonstrate its independence from the United States. It certainly doesn’t profit much from it.
When I visited Cuba in 2014, I hardly saw any Mexican products for sale.
The Mexican government is well aware that trade with the U.S. is much more profitable than its relationship with Cuba.