Mexico does not let Cuba be erased from the map

While she understood that she could not compromise her country's economy by going against the oil blockade policy imposed by Trump on Cuba, Claudia Sheinbaum has shown a level of commitment to the critical situation facing the Island far above the rest. Mexico has been sending humanitarian aid consistently and in large quantities since February, as an alternative to halted PEMEX oil shipments. This solidarity channel cannot solve Cuba's chronic supply problems—for this, a productive vocation is needed, and it will take a long time to activate and flourish—but it is always appreciated.

The distribution of the Aztec aid has been subject to various manipulations—for example, a narrative claiming the Cuban government ends up selling it for dollars in its stores—, yet the truth is that many Cubans have received some of the donated products. The problem is that the allocation could be better targeted so that the effort is more representative and lasting. That is: instead of allocating resources to all children up to 13 years old, pregnant women, and people over 65, an alternative could be to identify the most vulnerable within those same groups. Thus, perhaps instead of a small can of tuna, they could receive two, and feel that the result of the humanitarian intervention ordered from the Zócalo Square stretches a little further in time.

On the other hand, when questioned yesterday about the continuation of a contract with Cuba whereby Mexico pays Cuban medical specialists for the provision of various health services, Sheinbaum stood firm. The Trump administration has been highly effective in getting various agreements for the export of Cuban medical services signed with Caribbean and Central American countries essentially derailed, in a dynamic that has been ongoing since last year. Washington has long been branding it as an example of "modern slavery" due to several truly debatable circumstances, such as the money that doctors finally receive out of the total paid by each country. But Sheinbaum said that they "have a very good agreement that's also been a great help to us". "It's a bilateral agreement that's been very beneficial for Mexico," she concluded during her daily morning press conference. In the midst of an intense economic storm, caused by its own errors and—fundamentally, from my point of view—an extraordinary and comprehensive U.S. sanctions regime, and as the fate of a Russian tanker with more than 700,000 barrels of Urals crude is being decided, Mexico does not let Cuba be completely erased from the map.

Related to Cuba via X, and in the first case also to Mexico.

Source for the photo in the cover.