February 5, 2026 — Belly of the Beast

Once Trump halted all Venezuelan oil shipments to the island, he warned Cuba that it better make a deal with the U.S. “before it is too late.”

Since signing the executive order, he said over the weekend, “We’re starting to talk to Cuba.”

Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Reuters Monday that Cuba is “ready to have a serious, meaningful and responsible dialogue.”

“We have had exchange of messages, we have embassies, we have had communications, but we cannot say we have had a table of dialogue,” added de Cossio.

Trump has also said that Mexico, one of Cuba’s last oil lifelines, won’t be sending fuel to the island anymore.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum on Sunday said, “humanitarian aid to Cuba” will continue “in the form of food and other products while we diplomatically resolve everything related to the shipment of oil for humanitarian reasons.”

Last week, Sheinbaum denounced Trump’s executive order, warning that imposing additional tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba could trigger a large-scale “humanitarian crisis” on the island.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum is warning that Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba could trigger a large-scale humanitarian crisis, directly affecting hospitals, food supplies and basic services for the Cuban people. While reaffirming Mexico’s commitment to international law, she called on Washington to avoid actions that could worsen Cuba’s economic crisis.

Sheinbaum also announced that Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Juan Ramón de la Fuente has been instructed to contact the U.S. State Department to clarify the scope of the executive order published yesterday and to convey Mexico’s concern about its humanitarian consequences.

Mexico, she said, will continue exploring ways to provide humanitarian assistance to Cuba, consistent with its long-standing tradition of solidarity.

Havana, Feb 5 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel affirmed today that his country remains open to dialogue with the United States, based on respect for its sovereignty, independence and self-determination.

• February 5, 2026 | 10:36

He noted that his government is willing to discuss any topic, without pressure or preconditions, to build a civilized relationship between neighbors, which would bring benefits to the people of both nations.

Cubans do not hate the American people; we recognize the values ​​of their history and culture, added the Cuban head of state at a press conference broadcast today on national television.

When we have had the opportunity to create spaces for encounter between our peoples in different sectors—scientific, sporting, religious, cultural, health, and even political dialogue—we have found that there are many things we can work on together, without prejudice, that can contribute a great deal, he noted.

“How many things are we depriving both our peoples of because of this decadent, arrogant and criminal policy of blockade, which is getting worse,” he reflected.

That is our position, it is also a position of continuity and I believe it is possible, the president concluded.

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Paris, Feb 4 (Prensa Latina) French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu today described the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba as illegal and acknowledged its consequences for the lives of the island’s population.

• February 4, 2026 | 5:38 PM

In a question and answer session with the Government in the National Assembly, the president pointed out that France opposes this decades-old policy every year at the UN, and that it does so in its capacity as a member of the General Assembly of the multilateral body and as a permanent member of its Security Council.

Lecornu intervened after the president of the Democratic and Republican Left group in the lower house, Stéphane Peu, demanded a reaction from Paris both nationally and at the European level against the decree issued by Donald Trump last week in which he threatened tariffs on countries that supply or send oil to Cuba.

Peu denounced the impact the new measure will have on vital sectors of the population and the instability it will bring to the Caribbean, a region where France has a presence with its overseas territories of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin.

The communist deputy called for humanitarian assistance for Cubans and the activation of European Union mechanisms to combat the extraterritoriality of the blockade imposed by the United States and any unilateral attempt to obstruct aid.

According to the prime minister, France has assisted Cuba whenever it has deemed it necessary and will continue to do so, although without referring to Trump’s decree that labels the island “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security of the northern power or to the oil embargo that he intends to establish by pressuring third parties.

In his remarks, Lecornu mentioned the Cuban people, but distanced himself from the government of the Caribbean nation, after which Peu reminded him that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuban doctors helped French overseas territories.

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President Claudia Sheinbaum reaffirmed her solidarity with the Caribbean island in the face of the escalating coercive measures promoted by the Donald Trump administration.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Sunday, February 1, that her government is coordinating with the Cuban embassy to send aid this week. During her morning press conference, the president explained that the goal is to identify the basic goods that the island most urgently needs. This announcement reinforces Mexico’s historical policy of solidarity with the Cuban people in the face of external pressures.

“ This week we are planning humanitarian aid to Cuba ; it is aid that will be carried out by the Secretariat of the Navy, with food and other products, in a diplomatic manner,” the president stated.

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Mexican government reaffirms sovereignty in oil shipments to Cuba

The shipment of essential supplies comes as Washington threatens to impose tariffs on countries that export oil to the Caribbean nation. Faced with this situation, Sheinbaum assured that Mexico will seek diplomatic solutions to maintain crude oil shipments through Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). The president emphasized that her administration prioritizes humanitarian reasons to prevent a larger crisis in the region.

The head of state warned that the recent unilateral coercive measures by the Donald Trump administration could severely worsen the situation on the island. Therefore, the Mexican government is exploring alternative ways to continue its support without giving in to trade blackmail. This stance comes after the White House’s declaration of a “national emergency,” a maneuver aimed at strangling the Cuban economy through energy control.

Regarding press reports, Sheinbaum denied that the interruption of oil supplies was agreed upon in her recent talks with the US president. The president maintained that Pemex’s shipments represent only a tiny fraction of the Mexican state-owned company’s total production. For Mexico, support for Cuba is an exercise of sovereignty that is not negotiated under pressure or threats of tariffs.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry described the new US executive order as a “brutal act of aggression” against its sovereignty. Mexico solidified its position last year as the island’s main supplier of hydrocarbons, playing a strategic role in its energy stability. The Sheinbaum administration insists that humanitarian aid is an ethical principle that must prevail over Washington’s political impositions.

Finally, the Mexican government will provide details in the coming days on the exact composition of the shipment of basic goods that will depart for the island. This action reaffirms Mexico’s leadership in Latin American integration and its rejection of the economic blockade. While the embargo tightens, Mexico is committed to international cooperation and mutual respect as tools to guarantee peace and the well-being of its people.

Author: teleSUR: alr – JB

Source: Sputnik

Mexico City, January 30 (Prensa Latina) Mexican congresswoman Dolores Padierna stated that the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump against Cuba is not foreign policy, but pure imperialism.

“This is not foreign policy: it is imperialism in its purest form. It is a trade war aggression that seeks to punish sovereign countries and turn hunger and energy into weapons of pressure,” the legislator said in a message on her social media account.

According to the deputy coordinator of the Morena party’s parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies, these are “inhuman, illegal and coercive measures, designed to suffocate an entire people and force geopolitical alignments.”

“There is no national security here: there is economic domination, international blackmail and collective punishment,” he denounced.

Trump signed the executive order yesterday declaring a national emergency and establishing a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba.

The measure, another turn of the screw in the blockade that has been trying to suffocate the Cuban people for more than 60 years, is part of the current maximum pressure policy of the Trump administration against the island, and attempts to justify it with the interest of national security and foreign policy of the United States.

After returning to the White House on January 20, 2025, the Republican took among his first measures in office to reverse a decision made just seven days prior by his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, and reincluded Cuba on the arbitrary and unilateral list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Since then, hostile measures have rained down on the Caribbean nation in an attempt by the US government to make it collapse and bring about regime change.

According to the most recent data, the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by Washington on Cuba caused damages estimated at seven billion 556.1 million dollars between March 2024 and last February, an increase of 49 percent compared to the previous period.

In the health sector alone, that policy resulted in losses of nearly $300 million in one year, while the impact in the energy sector exceeded $496 million due to restrictions on importing fuels and spare parts.

On October 29, Cuba achieved a new victory in the United Nations General Assembly by obtaining 165 votes in favor of the resolution calling for an end to the blockade.

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Washington, Feb 2 (Prensa Latina) Former president of the National Council of Churches of Christ, Jim Winkler, told Prensa Latina that the blockade is an instrument of economic terrorism used by the United States against Cuba and must end.

• February 2, 2026

“Cuba does not represent a threat to the national security of the United States,” the former world leader said in his assessment of the anti-Cuban executive order signed by President Donald Trump on January 29.

Winkler warned that the current situation greatly hinders normal relations between American and Cuban churches, and advocated for closer ties between the two countries.

“Regular visits and contact strengthen ties and provide opportunities for prayer and worship,” added the former secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ.

The reverend insisted that “the policy of the U.S. government restricts the religious freedom of our churches” and stressed that he was “deeply disappointed that President (Joe) Biden broke his campaign promise to restore relations with Cuba. In essence, he continued Trump’s policy and not Obama’s.”

Winkler emphasized that major Protestant, African American, and pacifist churches, as well as leading ecumenical organizations and the American people, support normal relations between the United States and Cuba. “This has been prevented by resentful and bitter elements in our nation,” he stressed.

“We are rapidly running out of time for diplomacy to work,” the religious leader warned, adding: “I am deeply concerned that the United States will illegally invade another nation again.”

Furthermore, he denounced that “Trump’s oil blockade, like the entire US blockade of more than 60 years, is unnecessary and immoral.”

Winkler led the nation’s largest ecumenical organization from 2013-2022, an association of 37 Christian faith groups, which together encompass more than 100,000 local congregations and some 35 million followers in the United States.

Trump’s decree – in its most brutal version of the blockade – declares a national emergency regarding Cuba, under which he considered that to confront it, a regime of unilateral coercive tariffs was necessary against those countries that sell or supply oil directly or indirectly to Cuba.

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Mexico City, Feb 1 (Prensa Latina) Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced today the shipment this week of humanitarian aid to Cuba in the form of food and other products and reaffirmed that her nation is working through diplomatic channels to supply fuel to the island.

• February 1, 2026 | 4:02 PM

“We are exploring all diplomatic avenues to send fuel to the Cuban people, because this is not a matter for governments, but rather a matter of support to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, and in the meantime, we will send food and other aid,” the president stated.

From Guaymas, in the northern state of Sonora, the head of the Executive Branch explained that the shipment will be prepared by the Secretariat of the Navy.

In a context marked by Washington’s threat to impose tariffs on countries that send crude oil to Cuba, Sheinbaum also contradicted her American counterpart, Donald Trump, who said yesterday that he asked the dignitary to stop sending oil to the Caribbean country and she agreed.

“The issue (of sending oil to Cuba) has not been addressed in any of the conversations. The only time the topic was addressed was in the conversation that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (Juan Ramón de la Fuente) had with the (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” she clarified.

Trump signed the executive order on Thursday declaring a supposed national emergency and establishing a process to impose tariffs on the assets of nations that send crude oil to Cuba.

This decree, another turn of the screw in the blockade imposed on Cuba for more than 60 years, is part of Washington’s current maximum pressure policy against the island, and attempts to justify it with the interests of US national security and foreign policy.

During the plenary meeting of the deputies of the ruling Morena party, held yesterday, Foreign Minister De la Fuente considered it unacceptable that there is no humanitarian aid when it is required and reaffirmed his country’s decision to provide it to the nation that needs it.

Sheinbaum had stated on Friday that Mexico would look for ways to support Cuba and stressed the importance of avoiding a humanitarian crisis in the largest of the Antilles after the controversial measures announced by the United States.

Activists, parliamentarians, and representatives of political parties in this Latin American country have spoken out in recent days in support of the Caribbean nation in the face of the new US measure, described by many as unfair, cruel, and anachronistic.

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Havana, January 30 (Prensa Latina) President Miguel Díaz-Canel declared today that Cuba will overcome the recent executive order signed by US President Donald Trump and urged the Cuban people to respond to this measure with creative resistance and intelligence.

• January 30, 2026 | 11:19 PM

“Even if there is a fuel blockade, Cuba will not be defeated by the empire,” the head of state declared during the extraordinary plenary session of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in this capital.

He also urged the people, with the PCC militants at the forefront, “to fight, to create, to transform, to build and to share results with creative resistance and intelligence,” according to the summary of the meeting published on the Presidency of the Republic’s website.

Thus, he affirmed, it is the best way to react to the executive order signed by Trump, which, after labeling Cuba a threat to American security, establishes tariffs for countries that send oil to the island.

Díaz-Canel announced that Cuba will denounce this measure in every possible forum and assured that the Cuban condemnation will be supported by the countries and organizations that each year request the cessation of the United States’ economic blockade against Cuba at the United Nations.

“What right does an emperor have? What right does an empire have? What right does the government of a powerful nation have to deny a small country the fuel it needs to develop?” he questioned, and asserted that Cuba is a peaceful country, focused on promoting its development without threatening the national security of any state.

“Even amidst all this aggression and the blockade of all these years, we have said that we have the capacity and willingness to engage in dialogue with the US government. The problem is that dialogue cannot take place under pressure. Dialogue must be on equal terms, with respect, and without preconditions,” he emphasized.

“There is an asymmetry in the Cuba-United States relationship, and the United States created that asymmetry with the blockade,” he pointed out.

“We,” he stated, “did not attack the US. We have nothing against the American people.” He added that, due to the White House’s hostility, the people of both countries have no cultural, scientific, sporting, or educational relations.

On the other hand, the Cuban president referred to the recent US military aggression against Venezuela and commented that the action is part of a war against that country that began long before January 3, when President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were arrested.

Regarding this, he highlighted the confrontation between Cuban fighters and “elite US forces who had rehearsed an operation to kidnap the president in a few minutes, with superiority in men, technological superiority, superior weaponry, drones, a sophisticated deployment of technology, and tremendous firepower.”

“One day we will have to recognize how much the courage and example of the 32 Cubans who fell fighting the US invasion of Venezuela contributed to everything that is happening and what may happen in the future,” he said, and warned that “the empire has to calculate what an attack on Cuba would cost it.”

The extraordinary plenary session of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Havana concluded a process carried out in all provinces and the Isle of Youth, aimed at promoting the country’s comprehensive growth based on territorial projections and ensuring the leading role of party members in economic and social programs.

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