By Emir Olivares and Néstor Jiménez on October 17, 2023
“So that there is no longer any doubt”, Mexico will continue to support Cuba in everything it needs, including oil, and for this it does not have to “ask permission” from any foreign government, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made clear from the National Palace.
When asked about the controversy caused among the opposition by the sale of crude oil by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to the government of the island, the president responded: “in every way we can help the people of Cuba we will do it, so that there is no doubt, including oil, because it is a people that is suffering an inhumane and unjust blockade, and we cannot turn our backs on it. If they tell us: ‘sell us oil because we have no way of acquiring it’, of course we can”.
The President ruled out that there is any dispute or complication in the relations with Washington due to this support to the Caribbean nation, and even stressed that no loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Eximbank) to the state-owned productive company was cancelled, since there was no request from Mexico.
“The US government is are very respectful. They do not deal with such issues (…) And we do not have to ask permission from any foreign administration because we are a free, independent and sovereign country”, he stressed.
To clarify the versions that indicated that the Eximbank would have cancelled a credit to Pemex due to this support to Havana, López Obrador requested the broadcasting of a video with the participation of the oil company’s director, Octavio Romero, in an appearance in Congress, where he was also asked about the subject, and he answered:
“About Eximbank, I do not know what they have asked me because so many things have been said in relation to this; first they stated that we had been fined, which is not true, there is no fine in the least, neither is there any suspension of any credit, it was an agreement to no longer apply for it. There is no fine or cancellation.”
Emphasizing on the solidarity with Cuba, the president said that when Mexico asked them for support to send specialist doctors, the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel responded immediately, and has sent more than 700 of these professionals, in addition to the fact that doctors from the island also went to several nations, including ours, to provide care during the covid-19 pandemic
“We are very grateful to them. And we are supporters of universal fraternity, this also makes us different (from past governments), and the truth fills me with pride that we are different from the conservatives, we cannot be the same. I respect those who think differently.
“We came here with a movement in favor of justice and humanism. Those who were here, not all of them, of course, but the bosses, always sought profit, personal gain; they were interested in money, their true god is money. What we want is fraternity, justice, and we are in solidarity with all peoples. If that is to be a communist, a populist, let them put me on the list”.
Source: La Jornada, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English