President Trump signed on Thursday executive order which would impose tariffs on any goods from countries that sell or supply Cuba with oil, a move that could further cripple an island plagued by a deepening energy crisis.

Order it would primarily put pressure on Mexicoa government that has acted as an oil lifeline for Cuba and has repeatedly expressed solidarity with America’s adversary, even as President Claudia Sheinbaum sought to build a strong relationship with Mr. Trump.

This week has been marked by speculation that Mexico will cut oil supplies to Cuba under increasing pressure from Mr. Trump to distance himself from the Cuban government.

In its deepening energy and economic crisis — fueled in part by tough US economic sanctions — Cuba has relied heavily on foreign aid and oil supplies from allies such as Mexico, Russia and Venezuela. before the expulsion of the US military operation Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Since the operation in Venezuela, Mr. Trump said that no more Venezuelan oil will go to Cuba and that the Cuban government is “ready to fall.”

On January 11, Trump she wrote on social networks that “no more oil or money will go to Cuba — zero”.

At the time, a U.S. official told CBS News that the U.S. did not want to trigger the collapse of the Cuban government, but to negotiate with Havana to transition from its authoritarian communist system.

In its latest report, Mexico’s state oil company, Pemex, said it sent nearly 20,000 barrels of oil a day to Cuba from January to September 30, 2025. That month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico City. Afterward, Jorge Piñon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute who tracks shipments using satellite technology, said the figure dropped to about 7,000 barrels.

Sheinbaum has been incredibly vague about where her country stands, giving ambiguous answers to questions about shipments this week and dodging questions from reporters at her morning press briefings.

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said Pemex had at least temporarily paused some oil shipments to Cuba, but struck an ambiguous tone, saying the pause was part of general fluctuations in oil supplies and that it was a “sovereign decision” that was not made under pressure from the U.S. Sheinbaum said Mexico would continue to show solidarity with Havana, but did not clarify what kind of support Mexico would offer.

The Latin American leader insisted on Wednesday that she never said that Mexico had completely “suspended” supplies and that “humanitarian aid” to Cuba would continue, and that decisions on supplies to Cuba were determined by Pemex contracts.

So the contract determines when shipments are sent and when they are not sent, Sheinbaum said.

The lack of clarity from the leaders underscored the extreme pressure under which Mexico and other Latin American nations such as Mr. Trump are under she was more and more conflicted after the operation in Venezuela.

It remains unclear what Mr. Trump’s Thursday order will mean for Cuba, which has been wracked by crisis and the U.S. embargo for years. Fears were already simmering on the Caribbean island as many motorists sat in long gas lines this week, many unsure of what was to come.