The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warned that it is looking for a way to charge for oil shipments to Cuba, this because the price of a barrel is approaching $100 and the company Petróleos Mexicanos SA de CV (Pemex) is no longer can afford donations made to the Island.
The information was confirmed by Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcenas, who points out that the free flow of oil to Cuba was too much.
In that sense, he indicated that Mexico sent 350,000 barrels of crude oil in donations last June, doubling that figure in July. Taking into account the current price of oil, these donations had a cost of 77 million dollars, which were assumed by Pemex.
Bárcenas indicated in an interview with Bloomberg that this free flow of crude oil was too much, so alternatives are being sought to charge for future shipments to the Greater Antilles.
The official clarified that any measure adopted must be carefully calculated so that it does not violate the sanctions that the United States implements on the Castro regime, so there is a lot to plan.
“Why not? We have to see how it can be, what type of transaction. We have a financial situation, of course. It is not easy to donate,” said the Mexican chancellor, pointing out that Pemex has its own debts.
Bárcenas considers that now is the time to act, since the price of crude oil has increased by 25% compared to previous months, so everything possible must be sold.
The representative of the López Obrador government indicated that finding a way to collect this oil will not be easy, since the majority of the Mexican financial system has close ties with North American entities, which translates into sanctions that prevent them from “participating in the production of goods sold to the communist nation.”
This news comes at a bad time for the regime, as it means that the free flow of oil that had been reaching them from the Aztec nation is about to end, this in the midst of one of the worst economic crises that has hit Cuba since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 90s.
In recent months, many fuel-using services, including garbage collection and international passenger transportation, have been suspended due to a lack of fuel.
The problem also affects the country’s electricity generation, which has increased the number and duration of blackouts that the Island’s citizens must suffer at night.
