The script changes for Cuba
President Claudia Sheinbaum was crystal clear this morning. Mexico will continue to send humanitarian aid to Cuba and respond to “other requests” from the Miguel Díaz-Canel government. But there is a red line.
“For now we are not going to send fuel,” he said from the National Palace.
There’s the play. It is a yes, but… loaded with geopolitical meaning. Support that is measured with a teaspoon while dodging the bullet of US tariffs.
The ghost in the room: Trump and his tariffs
Sheinbaum once again attacked President Donald Trump’s measure. That which imposes taxes on countries that provide oil to the island. He doesn’t agree. He says it with the forcefulness of someone who knows that this movement from the north is a dagger on the table of international relations.
But here comes the interesting thing. The official explanation for stopping selling crude oil to Cuba is “the protection of our country.” A practical, almost defensive argument. And then, almost like a second act in the same play, he launches the beginning:
“We consider the self-determination of peoples.”
Two reading levels. One, the cold national interest. Another, the ideological flag. Foreign policy as a game of mirrors.
The final message was a lesson in sovereignty packaged for multilateral consumption. The Cuban people decide their destiny. No interference.
“There should be no interference or interference from anyone else,” he said.
Support, if it arrives, must be channeled through existing diplomatic channels. No adventures outside the established script.
This is how the board looks: humanitarian aid yes, fuel no. Solidarity with principles, but with an eye on Washington. The theater of international relations has a new act, and Mexico is learning its parliament to the millimeter.
