Two ships from the Mexican Navy arrived in Cuba on Thursday, laden with critical humanitarian aid as the island grapples with a severe energy crisis intensified by a U.S. blockade. This delivery comes at a pivotal time, following recent threats from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding tariffs on nations supplying oil to Cuba, which has led to energy rationing across the country.
Vital supplies amid crisis
The Mexican government reported that one of the vessels brought approximately 536 tons of essential food items, including milk, rice, beans, sardines, meat products, cookies, canned tuna, and vegetable oil. Additionally, personal hygiene items were included in the shipment. The second ship was specifically loaded with over 277 tons of powdered milk.
Among those witnessing the arrival of the ships was 34-year-old engineer Yohandri Espinosa, who expressed the urgency of the situation. He remarked,
“This is incredibly important aid for the Cuban people at this moment. We are living through difficult times of great need and uncertainty and we don’t know how long we will be like this.”
Impact of the U.S. blockade
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has characterized Trump’s threats as an “energy blockade”, asserting that it hampers critical services such as transportation, healthcare, education, tourism, and food production. In a concerning development, Cuban aviation officials alerted airlines earlier this week about fuel shortages, leading to Air Canada’s announcement of flight suspensions to the island and delays for other carriers that now require layovers in the Dominican Republic before reaching Havana.
The dwindling fuel supplies are anticipated to further devastate Cuba’s already struggling tourism sector. Javier González, a local resident watching from Havana’s iconic seawall, expressed his frustration, stating,
“Sometimes you think that things are going to improve, but it’s not like that. We can’t stay how we are because it’s too hard. We’ll have to wait and see.”
In response to the ongoing crisis, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum announced plans to continue providing aid. She indicated that the Mexican Navy would dispatch further support as necessary, emphasizing that discussions to restore oil supplies to Cuba were also underway. Sheinbaum has previously communicated to the United States Mexico’s commitment to fostering peaceful dialogue and ensuring that Cuba has access to oil and its derivatives essential for daily operations.
Prior to Trump’s warning, Mexico’s state-owned oil enterprise, Petróleos Mexicanos, had already ceased crude oil shipments to Cuba in January without clarifying the reasons for this decision. Compounding Cuba’s challenges, the country had heavily depended on oil supplies from Venezuela, which were disrupted following U.S. actions against the South American nation earlier this year.
As Cuba faces extensive blackouts and reduced bank hours, officials have also announced that sales of fuel would now be limited to 20 liters per customer and conducted exclusively in dollars. They estimate that U.S. sanctions, which intensified during Trump’s second term, have cost the nation over $7.5 billion (€6.3 billion) between March 2024 and February 2025.