Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country seeks to restart oil shipments to Cuba soon, a move that could provide much needed relief as the island’s crises deepen given a lack of petroleum

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her country seeks to restart oil shipments to Cuba soon, a move that could provide much-needed relief as the island’s crises deepen given a lack of petroleum.

Sheinbaum said her administration would seek to send the oil via commercial and privately owned firms instead of state-owned companies as it has done in the past.

Mexico became a key fuel supplier to Cuba after the U.S. attacked Venezuela in early January and halted critical oil shipments. But those shipments, which had already been reduced, were completely suspended after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that provides or sells oil to the island.

Since the attack on Venezuela, only one oil shipment has reached Cuba, courtesy of a Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of oil that were used up in one month.

The lack of fuel has worsened an energy crisis on the island that produces only 40% of the petroleum it needs, leading to severe power outages, reduced work hours, water shortages, suspended surgeries and spoiled food.

Sheinbaum said she wants to take advantage of a package of free-market reforms that Cuba’s government recently approved, leveraging Mexican business owners who are already on the island.

“The mechanism would be through private companies that have permits to transport fuel to Cuba,” she stated without providing further details. “We hope that commercial transport can resume soon,” she added, without specifying when it might happen.

Sheinbaum said Mexico also would continue sending humanitarian aid.

___

Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america