MEXICO CITY, Jan 7 - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that Mexico is not sending more oil to Cuba than it has historically, but amid recent events in Venezuela, Mexico has turned into an "important supplier" of crude to Cuba.
Sheinbaum made the comments during her regular morning press conference in response to a question about whether Mexico had become the main supplier of oil to the island, following the United States' blockade on oil exports from Venezuela imposed since mid-December
and its capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.
"We're not sending more oil than we have sent historically." she said. "Of course, with the current situation of Venezuela, Mexico has obviously become an important supplier, before it was Venezuela."
The Mexican President added that for years Mexico has provided oil to Cuba for different reasons, sometimes under contract, other times as humanitarian aid.
When asked if Mexico would provide a larger quantity of crude oil to Cuba now, she replied: "It's part of the contract and also part of the aid that has been provided historically."
Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in Venezuela under the U.S. blockade.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Raul Cortes in Mexico City, writing by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle)
