Mexican president says aid to Cuba will continue despite US sanctions


Mexico City, Feb 10 (IANS) Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government will continue providing humanitarian aid to Cuba, despite US sanctions targeting countries that trade with or send oil to the Caribbean nation.

“There will be more support. The Mexican people are always solidary. No one can ignore the situation that the Cuban people are currently experiencing due to the sanctions being imposed by the United States,” Sheinbaum said on Monday at her daily press conference, Xinhua news agency reported.

The president called on the United States and the international community to recognize that the sanctions are unfair to the Cuban people.

Mexico has recently dispatched two navy ships carrying 814 tonnes of food supplies to Cuba.

Earlier on Friday, speaking from Michoacan, Sheinbaum said that her government would be delivering the aid imminently.

She said that she would also continue “diplomatic efforts” with the US to restore Cuba’s access to oil, a necessary fuel to power the country’s electrical grid.

But Sheinbaum acknowledged that the US has threatened to issue tariffs against any country that seeks to circumvent its energy blockade. “Obviously, we don’t want sanctions against Mexico,” she told reporters.

Her remarks come after Trump issued an executive order last week declaring that Cuba’s communist government constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to the US, thereby requiring a national emergency declaration.

–IANS

int/rs


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