Aid for Havana, dialogue with Washington
President Claudia Sheinbaum made it clear this Friday in Michoacán: Mexico will send humanitarian aid to Cuba. And he wants to do it quickly.
“We are thinking of sending this aid, if not this weekend, then on Monday at the latest and it is mainly food,” said the president.
But there is more on the diplomatic menu. It’s not just canned food. The government is also moving chips towards something much juicier: oil.
The real challenge: crude oil
That’s the crux of the matter. Shipping food is one thing. Resuming the flow of fuel to a nation under strict US embargo is quite another.
“Obviously we don’t want there to be sanctions for Mexico, but we are in that process of dialogue,” Sheinbaum admitted with that mix of firmness and caution that characterizes these issues.
Translation: They are testing the limits of Washington’s patience. They negotiate how to ship the oil without incurring a fine or worse.
Coordination is the responsibility of the Mexican Foreign Ministry, with the Cuban ambassador Eugenio Martínez Enríquez and Lázaro Cárdenas Batel as key points. A team that suggests this is serious.
And will Sheinbaum speak directly with Miguel Díaz-Canel? The response was a rather eloquent “if necessary”. For now, they prefer to handle everything at the embassy level. Step by step.
Meanwhile, trucks with food aid should be rolling toward Mexican ports. The diplomatic clock is already ticking.
