MEXICO CITY, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Mexico will seek diplomatic solutions and alternatives to help Cuba, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on countries supplying the Caribbean island with oil.
The White House executive order on Thursday could prove devastating for Cuba, while also backing Mexico into a tight corner as one of its last remaining oil suppliers.
"We do not want tariffs on Mexico, but we will always look for diplomatic channels to seek solidarity with Cuba," Sheinbaum said at her daily morning press conference, highlighting the humanitarian risks of cutting off shipments.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly said the decision of whether to send oil to Cuba is a sovereign one, but the country's economy is heavily dependent on exports to the United States and therefore vulnerable to tariffs.
Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez declared an "international emergency" in response to the U.S. tariffs which he said on X constitute "an unusual and extraordinary threat".
Sheinbaum said cutting off oil shipments to Cuba could trigger a "far-reaching humanitarian crisis" on the island, affecting transportation, hospitals and access to food.
She did not say whether Mexico would cut shipments of oil or refined products to Cuba, which she said accounted for 1% of Mexico's production, but emphasized the government is looking at alternatives to help the island.
"Our interest is that the Cuban people don't suffer," Sheinbaum said, adding that she had instructed her foreign minister to contact the U.S. State Department to better understand the scope of the executive order.
Sheinbaum said she had spoken to Trump on Thursday morning, hours before the tariff announcement, but he had not mentioned the measures.
In 2024, Gasolinas de Bienestar, an affiliate of Mexico state oil firm Pemex, exported 20,100 barrels per day of crude and 2,700 bpd of oil products to Cuba, up 20% from the prior year and for a sum equivalent to $600 million, a securities filing last year showed.
Venezuela, once its top supplier, has not sent crude or fuel to Cuba for about a month, shipping data and internal documents from state company PDVSA show, with cargoes falling off due to a U.S. blockade even before Nicolas Maduro's capture on January 3.
Venezuela's government said the U.S. decree violated international law and expressed its solidarity with Cuba
(Reporting by Sarah Morland, Adriana Barrera, Kylie Madry and Iñigo Alexander; Editing by Emily Green and Alexander Smith)
