WASHINGTON
\nUS President Donald Trump said Monday that Mexico would stop sending oil to Cuba, which is already struggling after supplies from its traditional provider Venezuela dried up following the fall of Nicolas Maduro. \u201cIt\u2019s a failed nation. Mexico is going to cease sending them oil,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about Cuba.
\nFor years, until Maduro\u2019s ouster, the Cuban economy spluttered along on cheap supplies of Venezuelan oil. The end of Mexican supplies, too, would significantly deepen what is already Cuba\u2019s most serious economic crisis since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. There was no immediate response from Mexico to Trump\u2019s comments.
\nThe US president has approved punitive tariffs against countries supplying oil to Cuba.
\nThe decree effectively forced Cuba\u2019s partners to choose between trade with the world\u2019s largest economy or with an impoverished island of 11 million people. Mexico has been reluctant to cut supplies, with President Claudia Sheinbaum warning of a \u201cfar-reaching humanitarian crisis directly affecting hospitals, food supplies, and other basic services for the Cuban people.\u201d
\nBut the United States is Mexico\u2019s largest trade partner, and tariffs could damage the already slow-growing economy. While reiterating her \u201ceverlasting solidarity\u201d with the Cuban people, Sheinbaum added, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to put our country at risk in terms of tariffs.\u201d She also said that during a phone conversation Thursday with Trump, the two leaders \u201cnever discussed\u201d the issue of oil with Cuba.
\nIn his Oval Office remarks, Trump again said his administration was in talks with Cuba\u2019s leaders. \u201cI think we are pretty close, but we are dealing with the Cuban leaders right now,\u201d he said, without elaborating.
\nA senior Cuban diplomat on Monday said there were contacts between the two countries, but no formal talks. \u201cToday we cannot talk about having a dialogue table with the United States, but it is true that there have been communications between the two governments,\u201d vice foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told media. \u2014 DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump said Monday that Mexico would stop sending oil to Cuba, which is already struggling after supplies from its traditional provider Venezuela dried up following the fall of Nicolas Maduro. \u201cIt\u2019s a failed nation. Mexico is going to cease sending them oil,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-529416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n