Mexico has sent two ships carrying 80,000 barrels of petroleum to Cuba to help alleviate the country’s energy crisis over the Christmas period, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Monday.
“We are doing this within a legal framework as a sovereign nation,” Sheibaum said at her Monday morning press conference.
En Cuba nadie está a salvo de los apagones; en los hoteles cubanos también puedes disfrutarlos 🫣 pic.twitter.com/rarxtHgJdy
— Javi🇨🇺 (@JaviXCubaLibre) December 7, 2025
Cuba has been experiencing an energy crisis for around three years, with regular power outages of 20 hours or longer in several regions and frequent breakdowns at its aging power plants.
The five total blackouts as well as multiple partial ones in the last years have had a severe knock-on effect on the national economy. Cuba does not have the foreign currency needed to purchase the fuel required for its generating units. In addition, the latest U.S. military pressure on its main oil provider, Venezuela, has increased doubts about whether its neighbor will be able to continue supplying fuel.
The Cuban Electric Union reported on Monday that Cuba was facing an electricity deficit of over 1.9 GW, which was expected to lead to more widespread power outages. Authorities said that they were “working intensively” to bring thermal units back online and maintain service during the most critical hours.
Cubans have taken to social media in recent days to communicate their discontent with the situation, particularly over the Christmas period.
Sheinbaum emphasized that the exports are being made for humanitarian reasons for the people of Cuba. “We are continuing a series of support measures that our country has historically provided to Cuba,” Sheinbaum said. “Regardless of the political party, there has always been a Mexico-Cuba relationship. It’s not something new.”
The 80,000 barrels of fuel sent by Mexico’s state-owned oil firm Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) equate to just over one day of Cuba’s oil deficit. The island requires around 110,000 barrels a day to meet its basic energy needs, of which about 40,000 barrels come from domestic production.
Around 60% of Cuba’s fuel consumption comes from imports, with 65% of its oil being used to power its thermoelectric plants, according to Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information.
Sheinbaum said that Pemex will later release information on the price of the oil shipments.
With reports from El Financiero, EFE, La Jornada and CiberCuba
