By Brendan O’Boyle
MEXICO CITY, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, pressed on Tuesday whether Mexico had halted oil shipments to Cuba amid pressure from Washington, said shipment decisions were sovereign in nature and not based on U.S. pressure.
However, Sheinbaum appeared to acknowledge that Mexico had halted a planned shipment to Cuba. Asked at her regular morning press conference whether she denied a media report that Mexico had halted the shipment, Sheinbaum responded: “It is a sovereign decision and it is made in the moment when necessary.”
Sheinbaum sidestepped a question about whether Mexico would resume oil shipments to Cuba, answering: “in any case, it will be reported.”
Bloomberg first reported the suspension of the oil shipment. Reuters exclusively reported last week that the Mexican government was reviewing whether to keep sending oil to Cuba amid growing fears within Sheinbaum’s administration that Mexico could face reprisals from the United States over the policy.
Mexico’s oil shipments to Cuba have come under scrutiny in Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to stop the flow of oil and money from Venezuela to Cuba following the Jan. 3 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. special forces.
Venezuela, once the island’s top supplier, has not sent crude or fuel to Cuba for about a month, according to shipping data and internal documents from state company PDVSA, with cargoes falling off due to a U.S. blockade even before Maduro’s capture.
In 2025, Mexico was the second-largest supplier with approximately 5,000 barrels per day. With Venezuela offline, shipments from Pemex are now a critical, though insufficient, lifeline for the island.
In the nine months ending September, Mexico state oil company Pemex exported 17,200 bpd of crude and 2,000 bpd of petroleum products to Cuba.
Sheinbaum said Mexico’s decisions to sell or give oil to Cuba have a long history and are influenced by the economic blockade on the island nation.
“The decision of when (oil) is sent and how it is sent is a sovereign decision, and it is determined by (Mexican state oil company) Pemex based on the contracts—or, in any case, by the government, as a humanitarian decision to send it under certain circumstances,” Sheinbaum said.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle; Additional reporting by Mexico City Newsroom; Editing by Emily Green)
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