Pressure or contractual swing? Mexican crude oil to Cuba stops
Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed it this Tuesday. Yes, there have been suspensions in the shipment of oil to the island. But according to her, it’s just part of the normal “ups and downs” of supply. A “sovereign decision” by Mexico and its state company, Pemex.
“Pemex makes decisions in the contractual relationship it has with Cuba… just as for a time it was not sent and then it was sent and another time it was not sent,” said the president.
The question was direct: was there political consideration to stop a shipment? His response was an elegant detour about contracts. Meanwhile, Cuba is suffering a brutal energy crisis and Mexico was one of its last lifelines.
A diplomatic balance on a tightrope
Context is key. With Venezuelan crude oil paralyzed after the operation against Maduro, Washington’s pressure on Havana grows. Mexico, historically opposed to the embargo, had become a key supplier along with Russia.
Now, analysts see strange movements. Sheinbaum promised updated export data… that never arrived. In their place, ambiguous statements and an uncomfortable silence from the Cuban government.
The numbers tell another story. Pemex reported almost 20 thousand barrels per day until September. Then, academic Jorge Piñón—who tracks shipments with satellites—saw the figure drop to about 7,000. Now, even that is not clear.
Piñón sums it up perfectly for AP: the president “is walking a tightrope” between her rhetoric with Cuba and the upcoming meeting on the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
This delicate dance with Washington has been seen before. Just remember the case of FBI fugitive Ryan Wedding. Sheinbaum insisted that there was no American operation on Mexican soil and that the guy surrendered voluntarily.
“The Mexican government had no reason to doubt the ambassador,” he said, closing ranks with the official North American version.
Rhetorical solidarity on the one hand, energetic realpolitik on the other. Sheinbaum’s tightrope seems increasingly tight. And meanwhile, the tanks in Cuba remain empty.
