MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico will ship humanitarian aid to Cuba in the coming days while continuing to negotiate with Washington on the possibility of circumventing a  United States (US) oil siege, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to starve communist Cuba of oil, and threatened tariffs on any other nation stepping in to help Havana.

The impoverished island, which is in the grip of a severe energy crisis, has long relied on heavily discounted oil from Venezuela, whose leader was ousted in a US raid last month.

Mexico, which stepped in to offset dwindling Venezuelan shipments, has been under pressure from Washington to also cut its lifeline.

The leftist Sheinbaum told reporters on Friday that her government was preparing an aid shipment of “mainly food and some other supplies they (Cuba) have requested,” to be sent by Monday at the latest.

She added that “diplomatic efforts” were continuing to resume oil shipments, while reiterating that “obviously, we don’t want sanctions against Mexico.”

Mexica’s oil and petroleum sales to Cuba totaled $496 million in 2025, less than 1 per cent of the production of state-owned oil company Pemex, the firm said on Wednesday.

Pemex argues that the oil shipments are purely for humanitarian purposes.

The US pressure tactics threaten to plunge Cuba into complete darkness as its power plants struggle to keep the lights on due to fuel shortages.

On Thursday, the US State Department announced it was providing $6 million in direct aid to Cubans through the Catholic Church in that country.

It comes after $3 million of earlier assistance, also provided through the same mechanisms.