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Mexico<\/a> has cancelled a shipment of oil to Cuba<\/a>, the country\u2019s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, appeared to confirm on Tuesday, but she insisted the decision was \u201csovereign\u201d and not the response to pressure from the US.<\/p>\n Fuel shortages are causing increasingly severe blackouts in Cuba, and Mexico has been the island\u2019s biggest oil supplier since the US blocked shipments from Venezuela<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n On Monday, Bloomberg<\/a> reported that Pemex, Mexico\u2019s state oil company, had \u201cbacktracked<\/a>\u201d on plans to send a much-needed delivery to Cuba this month.<\/p>\n Asked whether she denied the report in her daily press conference, Sheinbaum said: \u201cIt is a sovereign decision and it is made in the moment when necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n The cancelled shipment comes amid reports<\/a> that the Mexican government had been privately reviewing whether to keep sending oil to Cuba amid fear of reprisals from the US.<\/p>\n After the US captured and renditioned Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from Venezuela at the start of the year, it appeared to turn its attention to Cuba, Venezuela\u2019s longstanding ally, with Donald Trump<\/a> writing in a 11 January Truth Social post: \u201cTHERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA \u2013 ZERO!\u201d<\/p>\n Sheinbaum sidestepped a question about whether the cancelled shipment is a one-off or could represent a more lasting suspension of oil shipments, while restating Mexico\u2019s longstanding stance against the US blockade on Cuba.<\/p>\n \u201cCuba has been under a blockade for too many years now. And this blockade has caused supply problems on the island,\u201d said Sheinbaum. \u201cMexico has always shown solidarity and Mexico will continue to show solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n