Mexico sends 1,200 tonnes of food to Cuba in second major batch of aid

Mexico has sent a caller shipment of humanitarian assistance to Cuba, a state plagued by substance and nutrient shortages and predominant blackouts.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said connected Tuesday that 2 Mexican Navy ships carrying 1,193 tonnes of provisions had acceptable sail for Cuba from the Gulf seashore larboard metropolis of Veracruz.

The Papaloapan and Huasteco logistics enactment vessels are expected to instrumentality 4 days to scope Cuba, meaning they should get this Saturday.

The SRE said that the Papaloapan is carrying 1,078 tonnes of provisions, including beans and powdered milk. The ministry said that the Huasteco is carrying 92 tonnes of beans and 23 tonnes of different foodstuffs that were donated by “various societal organizations.”

The SRE said that the nutrient assistance has been dispatched to Cuba connected the instructions of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has pledged to proceed supporting the communist-run Caribbean island.

“The radical of Mexico support their contented of solidarity with the peoples of Latin America, and successful peculiar with the radical of Cuba,” the ministry said.

“Our state has ever provided assistance to our sister nations successful need,” the SRE said, noting that Mexico has contributed to the effect to caller earthy disasters successful assorted countries of the Americas, including Chile and the United States.

The latest shipment of assistance comes aft the Papaloapan and different Navy vessel, the Isla Holbox, transported 814 tonnes of provisions to Cuba earlier this month.

The departure of those 2 vessels connected Feb. 8 came 10 days aft U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would enforce further tariffs connected goods from countries that proviso lipid to Cuba.

Sheinbaum said that the determination — seemingly aimed astatine accelerating authorities alteration successful Cuba — “could trigger a humanitarian situation of large reach, straight affecting hospitals, nutrient proviso and different basal services for the Cuban people.”

Mexico — the largest supplier of lipid to Cuba successful 2025 — suspended shipments of lipid to the communist-run land successful bid to debar the imposition of further tariffs connected its exports to the United States.

🇲🇽 🇨🇦 🇨🇺 ÚLTIMA HORA: La presidenta mexicana, Claudia Sheinbaum, confirmó esta mañana que el fallo de la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos eliminó la amenaza arancelaria contra México por los envíos de petróleo a Cuba. Al preguntársele si se reanudarían las exportaciones, Sheinbaum… pic.twitter.com/YfTWWORVcW

— Tere Felipe (@_TereFelipe_) February 24, 2026

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said that “that imaginable authorisation nary longer exists” arsenic a effect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Feb. 20 ruling against galore of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Asked whether Mexico would truthful resume the shipment of lipid to Cuba, the president indicated that her authorities would marque an announcement connected the substance soon.

As a effect of the United States’ subject involution successful Venezuela successful January, Cuba is nary longer receiving crude from the oil-rich South American country.

The concern successful Cuba 

In her programme “Cafecito informativo,” salient Cuban writer Yoani Sánchez said connected Wednesday that radical successful Cuba are experiencing hunger.

“I person to accidental emphatically that radical are going bare successful Cuba,” she said.

In summation to radical rummaging done rubbish to find thing to devour and “starving” seniors begging for wealth truthful they tin bargain food, different sectors of the Cuban population, including children, young radical and large women, are besides suffering from a “nutritional deficit,” said Sánchez, laminitis of the Cuban quality tract 14 y medio.

“Many of them [only] devour erstwhile a day,” she said.

“Others, unluckily can’t fulfill their tendency to enactment thing successful their rima during the day,” Sánchez added.

“… All this creates a bid of precise superior wellness problems,” she said.

The New York Times reported past Friday that radical successful Cuba “are struggling with predominant blackouts, shortages of gasoline and cooking state and dwindling supplies of diesel that powerfulness the nation’s h2o pumps.”

“Trash is piling up, nutrient prices are soaring, schools are canceling classes and hospitals are suspending surgeries,” reported the Times successful an nonfiction headlined “A New U.S. Blockade is Strangling Cuba.”

“While President Trump has pledged to halt immoderate lipid headed to Cuba, the Trump medication has stopped abbreviated of calling its argumentation a blockade. But it is functioning arsenic one,” the study said.

France 24 reported connected Wednesday that “in effect to the vigor crisis, the Cuban authorities is implementing a four-day workweek and restricting substance sales.”

“Ordinary Cubans are struggling to adapt. Vehicle owners are constricted to 20 liters of petrol purchased done an app with agelong hold times,” the tv web reported.

Frances Robles, a New York Times writer who has reported extensively connected Cuba, said Wednesday that “the concern successful Cuba close present is conscionable unsustainable.”

“… The authorities doesn’t person gasoline, you person shortages astatine authorities nutrient stores, and you person blackouts that are lasting hours and hours each day,” she said.

“… Most experts accidental it’s astir intolerable to cognize however agelong they tin past without lipid coming into Cuba. But what is already a truly atrocious situation is expected to escalate to unprecedented proportions wrong a substance of weeks,” Robles said.

“… One happening that has truly amazed maine successful each the interviews that I’ve done is that a batch of radical really bash deliberation that this could beryllium the twelvemonth the [Cuban communist] authorities ends — either due to the fact that of societal unrest connected the streets oregon due to the fact that of immoderate benignant of negotiated solution that the Cuban authorities is going to beryllium forced to accept,” she said.

Mexico News Daily