Two Mexican Navy ships docked in Cuba on Thursday carrying humanitarian aid for the Caribbean island nation in the middle of a severe energy crisis.
The ships carried hundreds of tons of food and supplies. The Mexican government said that one ship contained 536 tons of food – including milk, beans, sardines, and cookies – while the other contained about 277 tons of powdered milk, according to the Associated Press.
The arrival of aid comes weeks after President Donald Trump increased pressure on the Cuban economy, threatening tariffs against any nation that supplies Cuba with oil. Cuba has since instituted increasingly strict rules around the use of its remaining fuel supplies.
The aid delivers on a promise Mexico made to its ally to help as the United States bears down economically on the dictatorial regime in power in Havana. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signaled said she would like to help Cuba more, but does not want to violate the U.S. blockade on oil.
As soon as the ships return, “we will send more support of different kinds,” Sheinbaum said on Thursday, according to The Guardian. Sheinbaum is negotiating a delicate balance between the risk of angering Washington and aiding Mexico’s ally in the Caribbean.
“The energy pressure that Trump is exerting on Cuba places Mexico in a dilemma that is very characteristic of its entire history of diplomatic relations with the United States and Cuba,” Cuban historian Rafael Rojas told The Guardian. “Mexico is yielding to the demands of the United States – and on the other hand it maintains its solidarity with the island.”
Cuba’s energy crisis began after the U.S. arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in early January. After Maduro was extradited to New York for trial on charges related to drug trafficking, the United States took control of Venezuela’s oil exports, stopping exports to Cuba and cutting off Havana from its main supplier of fuel.
Almost immediately after the arrest of Maduro, Washington turned its focus to Cuba. Top Trump officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio have advocated for Havana’s current regime to topple.
“I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro,” Rubio said the day after Maduro’s arrest.
Cuban agents were honeycombed throughout the Maduro regime and Cuban special forces served as the core of Maduro’s personal guard.
