Cuba in the Crosshairs
Also in this edition: Orwell goes to Gaza. In Oaxaca, the archaeological discovery of the decade. Minnesota forces Trump to change his tactics.
Lea La Jornada Internacional en español aquí.
Mexico’s Historic Support for Cuba Is Under Attack
Mexico has stood out for its solidarity with the Cuban Revolution from its beginnings to the present day, always in defiance of Washington’s policy toward the island. “Mexico has always been in solidarity and will continue to be in solidarity,” with Cuba, President Claudia Sheinbaum declared in late January, in response to pressure from Donald Trump’s government.
The President’s statement is doubly notable because it came shortly after the U.S. attack on Venezuela, and after President Trump’s message predicting that Cuba is “ready to fall.” Media outlets in Washington reported that the United States is “actively seeking” regime change before the end of this year.
U.S. sources told La Jornada that there are no concrete plans, and one U.S. business leader who promotes trade with the island downplayed the significance of preparations for a new naval blockade. However, he noted that tighter restrictions on commercial flights and financial transactions are expected, along with increased pressure to alter the island’s economic policies.
The U.S. government has sought to change Cuba’s regime for more than 60 years; therefore, these kinds of initiatives and rumors are nothing new. Nevertheless, following the U.S. attack on Venezuela and statements by the Trump administration, expectations have grown, particularly among anti-Castro Cuban Americans in Florida, that greater pressure will be applied to Cuba. As a result, it’s anticipated that the U.S. will increasingly pressure Mexico to reduce its support for Cuba.
An oil tanker carrying 90,000 barrels of Mexican oil arrived in Havana in early January 2026. President Sheinbaum said that Mexico sells oil to Cuba as an act of sovereignty and respect for the self-determination of peoples, stressing that the island’s future must be decided solely by Cubans, without external interference. Morena senators backed the President’s position on selling oil to Cuba, while several opposition parties expressed their disagreement.
There is no doubt that U.S. pressure is intensifying, and this Thursday, Trump issued an executive order threatening to impose tariffs on any country that supplies Cuba with oil. Some Miami lawmakers have threatened to use the issue of Mexican oil exports to Cuba in negotiations to renew the USMCA (T-MEC). This week, Bloomberg reported that Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) canceled a crude oil shipment destined for Cuba, specifying that the cargo was to be carried by the vessel Swift Galaxy.
Sheinbaum did not deny this information, but insisted: “As we have said, Mexico’s decision to sell or provide oil to Cuba for humanitarian reasons is based on a sovereign decision that has existed for many years; it is not recent. Cuba has endured a blockade (an economic embargo imposed by Washington) for far too many years, and this blockade has caused supply shortages on the island.” Congressional leaders echoed this view.
In his column, Enrique Galván Ochoa acknowledges that there are many strictly financial reasons for Pemex to halt oil assistance: “It is the most indebted oil company in the world, operates with heavy losses, has not paid its suppliers, keeps gasoline subsidized for consumers, and now the Trump factor has been added.” In addition, Pemex failed to meet its production target in 2025.
However, Mexico’s defense of self-determination and non-intervention regarding Cuba since 1959—and opposition to the U.S. embargo—has been an almost permanent principle (with only a couple of exceptions under PAN governments), something documented and defended by La Jornada since its founding to this day.
The Quote:
Pity the nation whose people are sheep And whose shepherds mislead them Pity the nation whose leaders are liars Whose sages are silenced And whose bigots haunt the airwaves Pity the nation that raises not its voice Except to praise conquerors And acclaim the bully as hero And aims to rule the world By force and by torture
-Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Pity the Nation”
In Case You Missed It
◻️ Peace Board: Orwell Goes to Gaza. President Sheinbaum explained that Mexico is analyzing Donald Trump’s invitation to join his Board of Peace on Gaza and, in this context, reiterated that Mexico has recognized Palestine as a nation. In an editorial, La Jornada describes the Board as “a personal project of the president to replace the current international order with an organization in which everyone pays him homage and grants him decision-making power over all matters under its purview.”
◻️ Cultural initiatives against violence in Michoacán. The program responding to violent incidents in Michoacán is based on the idea that violence cannot be stopped with a single tactic: “neither culture, nor security, nor education can do it alone,” explained Claudia Curiel, federal secretary of Culture. As part of a comprehensive strategy, the initiative supports “10,000 local artists with a community profile.”
◻️ Archaeological discovery of the decade. The discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved pre-Hispanic Zapotec tomb constitutes the most important archaeological find of the decade. The millennia-old burial, built in the 7th century in the Etla Valley, Oaxaca, is part of the archaeological complex known as Cerro de la Campana. Sealed for nearly 1,400 years, the crypt remained intact. ▶️ VIDEO
◻️ Minnesota forces Trump to change tactics. In response to growing national outrage over the behavior of immigration agents in Minnesota, President Donald Trump was forced to dismiss his operations chief in Minneapolis, consider a change in tactics, and commit to investigating the deaths of two citizens killed by ICE agents. Across the country, peaceful resistance to Trump’s violent autocracy is flourishing. Jorge Durand writes about how solidarity among U.S. citizens with migrants “has become, in many cases, a massive response from the population.”
◻️ USMCA: Mexico must not sideline China. As negotiations begin over the future of the USMCA, Mexico’s government insists that despite the noise, everything is fine. At the same time, a strong debate has erupted, part of which is expressed in the pages of La Jornada: Mexico cannot align itself by marginalizing its trade relations with Asia, particularly China, experts warn. “Canada is going to China—what about Mexico?” asks Enrique Dussel Peters. Manuel Pérez Rocha laments that in the USMCA review negotiations, social voices are not being heard—only corporations. For his part, José Romero cuts to the chase, declaring that “Mexico grows without trade agreements or stagnates with them.”
◻️ The Ojarasca supplement marks the start of the year this way: “We begin 2026 not with more of the same, but with more of the other—the kind that does not fit neatly into academic or government information and dissemination. Specific experiences of resistance and cultural, agricultural, and community creativity among the peoples of the color of the earth, with ancient millennial roots and intense presence today. Flavors and knowledge, myths, memory, colors, and words, in each of the many languages from here, confirm that life goes on and on and on.” From Ojarasca, La Jornada’s monthly supplement dedicated to the Indigenous world and its resistance.
Mexican queer film at Sundance. At the film festival in Utah, Mexico will present the queer documentary Jaripeo, the debut feature by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, as well as La Cazadora by Suzanne Andrews Correa.
🎥 What We Are Watching
On Palabras Cruzadas from La Jornada: an interview with Ignacio Pineda, founder of Multiforo Alicia, a countercultural venue and home of rebel music, from Panteón Rococó to Manu Chao.
Really solid reporting on the geopolitcal tightrope Mexico is walking. The sovereignty angle is crucial here becuase it's not just about oil shipments but about setting precedents for regional autonomy. I've seen similar patterns with trade partnerships in Asia where economic pressure gets weaponized to force policy shifts. Mexico's historical stance on non-intervention might actually become more valuable as leverage.