HAVANA, Cuba — In a significant display of international solidarity, two Mexican naval vessels arrived in Havana harbor on Saturday carrying nearly 1,200 tons of humanitarian supplies for the Cuban population. This marks the second such delivery within a month as the island nation faces mounting economic pressure from the United States.
The Papaloapan and Huasteco ships, dispatched by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration earlier this week, delivered 1,193 tons of essential aid including 23 tons of food donations contributed by Mexican citizens through a national relief drive. This follows a previous shipment on February 12 that delivered 814 tons of critical supplies including dairy products, meat, grains, and hygiene items.
The aid arrives amid heightened tensions between Cuba and the United States, where the Trump administration has explicitly pursued policies aimed at restricting Cuba’s access to energy resources. Following the US military intervention that ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro—formerly Cuba’s primary oil supplier—President Trump vowed to ‘starve Cuba of oil.’
While the US administration recently modified its energy blockade to permit some oil shipments to private Cuban companies, restrictions remain firmly in place against government and military entities. This has created severe shortages across the island, with power plants struggling to maintain electricity and critical shortages affecting medicine, fuel, and food supplies.
The situation represents an escalation of the long-standing US trade embargo against Cuba, in effect since 1962. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose Cuban heritage informs his policy stance, along with President Trump have openly expressed their objective of precipitating regime change in Havana, with Trump declaring the communist nation ‘ready to fall.’
With Venezuela’s oil shipments curtailed and Mexican energy exports threatened by US tariff policies, Cuba’s 9.6 million residents face their most severe economic crisis in decades, potentially pushing the nation toward complete energy collapse.