Mexican fuel cargo for Cuba is sovereign decision, president says

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivers a speech on the third anniversary of his presidential election victory at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday asserted Mexico's independence to send fuel as well as food and medical supplies to Cuba, which is grappling with a surge in coronavirus cases.

"We are an independent nation," Lopez Obrador said during his regular morning news conference on Tuesday in response to a question about whether planned fuel deliveries risked contravening a U.S. sanctions regime against the Communist-run island.