Two ships from Mexico docked in the port of Havana with 814 tons of food and other products for the island, affected by its worst energy crisis in decades. An international coalition of social movements announced that it will send a flotilla with aid in March, something that Chile also promised. While the Kremlin assures that it is analyzing how to support Cuba, tension with the US increases.

First modification: 02/12/2026 - 09:04 Last modification: 02/13/2026 - 02:51

Announced by Mexico as a symbol of "solidarity and humanitarian aid," two Mexican Navy ships arrived this Thursday, February 12, in Havana with 814 tons of food and other essential items intended to provide minimal relief to the serious crisis facing the island, in the midst of the United States oil blockade.

According to the Mexican Government, the 'Papaloapan' transported around 536 tons of food, including milk, rice, beans, sardines, meat products, cookies, canned tuna and vegetable oil, as well as personal hygiene products. The second vessel, 'Isla Holbox', carried more than 277 tons of powdered milk.

On social networks, the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, thanked Mexico "for the solidarity, the affection, the always warm embrace of Cuba."

For her part, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum insisted that, in accordance with the cooperation between the two countries for years, a second shipment of humanitarian aid is expected and assured that there is a reserve of 1,500 tons of powdered milk and beans "pending to be sent" to Cuba.

At the same time, the head of state stressed that diplomatic efforts continue to resume oil supplies to the island, despite the threat from Donald Trump's Administration to impose tariffs on products from countries that provide crude oil to Cuba.

On the other hand, Sheinbaum reiterated that Mexico "does everything on its part to be able to generate a dialogue" between the United States and Cuba, which is "peaceful" and respects "the sovereignty" of the island, so that the Caribbean country "can receive oil and its derivatives for its daily operation."

Read alsoRussia sends planes to take out its tourists, while the energy crisis worsens on the island

The Kremlin "evaluates options" to help Cuba, but avoids confirming possible oil shipment

The Kremlin stated this Thursday that Russia maintains daily contacts "at different levels" with Cuba and that both parties are "evaluating options to provide aid," but "for obvious reasons" it declined to comment directly on reports that Russia plans to send oil and fuel to the island in the short term.

In that sense, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov, in his daily telephone press conference, indicated that "we would not want any escalation" with the United States, knowing of Washington's tariff threats to countries that break their oil blockade of Cuba, although he clarified that "today, we (Russia and the United States) have almost no time for commercial exchange."

Hours earlier, the Izvestia newspaper, citing sources from the Russian embassy in Havana, had indicated that Moscow would be preparing to send shipments of crude oil and fuel to Cuba in the near future.

"The supply of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia to Cuba is expected in the near future as humanitarian aid," a diplomat from the Russian embassy was quoted by the newspaper, which noted that the last time Russia supplied oil to Cuba was in February 2025, when it delivered a shipment of 100,000 metric tons.

A long-standing ally of the communist regime in Cuba, Moscow has denounced the US blockade as a way of "suffocating" the island's economy, a position reiterated today by the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, María Zajárova: "The actions of external forces, which seek to worsen the energy crisis in Cuba, which includes the suspension of air communications with the island, are aimed at, among other things, provoking the discontent of the population and the discomfort of foreign citizens."

To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies.

An extension on your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site.

Read alsoRecord blackout for this Tuesday and suspension of flights: US oil blockade worsens crisis in Cuba

Chile will also send humanitarian aid to Cuba

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Alberto van Klaveren, announced this Thursday that his country will resort to a "special fund" to send humanitarian aid "for the people of Cuba" who are facing what he described as a "humanitarian drama" due to the United States oil blockade.

The chancellor indicated that in the next few hours the amount of this aid will be defined, which will come from the Chile Fund against Hunger and Poverty and will be channeled through multilateral organizations and UN programs. It is a fund that "has also allowed humanitarian contributions to be made in other very serious situations," including the war in Ukraine, the catastrophe in Gaza caused by the Israeli invasion and the passage of hurricanes through the Caribbean, an occasion in which Cuba also received a portion of that aid.

The measure comes hours after leaders of the Chilean Communist Party, a member of Gabriel Boric's ruling coalition – who will leave office in March –, demanded the sending of this aid.

Boric, a defender of Castroism during his time as a university leader and congressman, has described Cuba's communist government as a "dictatorship" since he became president of the country, while he has continued to denounce the decades-long US economic blockade of the island.

To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies.

"Beyond the political characteristics that your regime may have, what interests us is to address the needs of the Cuban people as much as possible. And we are not alone in that, Mexico is also chartering aid and so is Brazil," defended Foreign Minister Van Klaveren.

Read also “Everyone knows what is coming now”: Cubans prepare for a feared fall into the void

UN experts condemn the US oil blockade of Cuba

Three UN experts and rapporteurs condemned the current United States oil blockade of Cuba and stressed that "there is no justification under international law" for the threat of sanctions that Donald Trump has made against countries that facilitate the supply of crude oil to the Caribbean country.

In his statement, the expert in promoting a democratic and equitable international order George Katrougalos; the rapporteur for the protection of human rights in the fight against terrorism, Ben Saul; and the rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, warned that "these blocking measures" by Washington "may end up constituting collective punishment of civilians."

At the same time, they denounced that the US argument of calling Cuba an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to its national security and the accusation of its alleged support for transnational terrorist groups lack credibility and "seem created to justify the extraordinary use of coercive powers."

Concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the blockade that are already being felt in Cuba, the experts pointed out that Trump's measures violate the principles of sovereign equality, non-interventionism and self-determination reflected in the United Nations Charter and the international trade frameworks defined, among others, by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

For this reason, they urged the US Government to immediately cancel the executive order that frames the tariff threat and stop the use of extraterritorial economic measures.

Let us remember that, to obtain much of its fuel, Cuba had depended on Venezuela, an allied country since the period of the late President Hugo Chávez. However, that relationship changed after the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro.

Since then, it has not received crude oil or refined products from its main partner. On January 29, 2026, the United States signed an executive order threatening to impose tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.

This pressure from Donald Trump's administration generated a fuel crisis, which has even involved the Mexican state-owned Pemex, which suspended its shipments due to the threat of US tariffs.

The situation in Cuba has deteriorated rapidly. Several international airlines (including Air Canada and WestJet) have suspended their flights to the island because the José Martí International Airport has warned that it is running out of fuel for refueling.

In addition, the Cuban electrical grid has suffered systemic collapses. Prolonged power outages are reported, especially in eastern provinces such as Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba. For this reason, the Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel has implemented extreme measures to save fuel: mandatory teleworking, hotel closures and suspension of classes.

In the midst of the crisis, the organizations of the Havana International Book Fair announced that the event was postponed. In this edition the guest country was precisely Russia.

More tension with the US

The Trump Administration assured that Cuban agents "have been harassing" the charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, during his recent trips to the island.

"I want these people to understand that we know who they are and that we will respond accordingly, including with visa sanctions," said Undersecretary of State Christopher Landau on social media.

Landau stressed in the same message that, according to international law, "diplomats must have the freedom to perform their duties without being harassed by thugs."

Read alsoCuba in the dark: blackouts, shortages and the routine of resisting

With EFE, AP and local media

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.