Mexico has temporarily ended oil shipments to Cuba, adding to President Donald Trump’s efforts to isolate the island and push for a change in the Cuban government.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that her country is temporarily suspending oil shipments to Cuba. She claimed that the measure was due to fluctuations in oil supplies and unrelated to U.S. policy.
Sheinbaum said at a Tuesday press conference that state oil company Pemex “makes decisions in the contractual relationship it has with Cuba.” She added that “suspending is a sovereign decision and is taken when necessary,” according to the Associated Press.
Mexico’s move to temporarily stall oil shipments to Cuba comes as Trump weighs his options to force regime change in the Cuban government. The administration is weighing options to place pressure on Cuba, including imposing a total blockade on oil imports to the Caribbean country, Politico reported.
The Trump administration is seeking Cuban government insiders willing to negotiate to push the current regime out by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
Cuba has relied heavily on oil from Mexico and Venezuela. It was cut off from Venezuelan oil after the United States captured former dictator Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that “Cuba will be failing pretty soon, Cuba is really a nation that’s very close to failing.”
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“You know, they got their money from Venezuela. They got the oil from Venezuela. They are not getting that anymore,” he added.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Mexico’s move to pause oil shipments to Cuba.