<\/p>\n
Mexico<\/a>\u2019s president, Claudia Sheinbaum<\/a>, has warned that Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s move to slap new tariffs on countries sending oil to Cuba<\/a> could trigger a humanitarian crisis on the island, which is already suffering from chronic fuel shortages and regular blackouts.<\/p>\n The US president signed an executive order on Thursday declaring a national emergency and laying the groundwork for such tariffs, ratcheting up the pressure to topple the communist government in Havana.<\/p>\n A White House statement<\/a> cited the Cuban government\u2019s alleged ties to Russia, Hamas and Hezbollah to explain the new tariffs. While the statement did not name Mexico, Sheinbaum\u2019s government has been the top supplier of oil<\/a> to the island since 2025, surpassing Russia and Venezuela.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum said on Friday that her government would seek more information about the tariffs from the US state department, while looking for alternative ways provide humanitarian aid to the Cuban people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will seek a way, without putting Mexico<\/a> at risk, of course, but always seeking solidarity with the Cuban people,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n The new tariff policy comes as Cuba struggles with increasingly severe blackouts. Sheinbaum said the tariffs could \u201cdirectly affect hospitals, food supplies and other basic services for the Cuban people\u201d.<\/p>\n Cuba\u2019s president, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel Berm\u00fadez, said in a post on X<\/a> that Trump sought to \u201csuffocate\u201d the island\u2019s economy and that the tariffs revealed the \u201cfascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal gain\u201d.<\/p>\n