the tanker Delsa, which sails under the Cuban flag, left the Mexican port of Coatzacoalcos for Cuba with a cargo of 350,000 barrels of crude. The operation was denounced this Saturday by the journalist Gerardo Aburtowho accused the state monopoly Pemex and the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of diverting the nation’s resources to “give crude oil to the oppressive government of Cuba.”
The transaction invoice, published by the journalist, shows how Pemex sold 350,000 barrels of Istmo oil (a variant of crude oil used to make gasoline , diesel, jet fuel and kerosene) to send them to the Island.
The name of the tanker also appears on the document Delsa and the entity to which the fuel is delivered: Unión Cuba Petróleo (Cupet), with headquarters on Carlos III street, in Havana. Aburto defines the chain of responsibilities: “The shipping order was signed by Alfredo Vargas Luna, manager of Hydrocarbons Marketing (GCH), who in turn received instructions from his boss, Carlos Pérez Téllez, commercial manager of the Marketing and Operations belonging to Pemex-Exploration and Production (PEP), in charge of the engineer Angel Cid who is the Manager of the Subsidiary”.
No other official instance, such as Customs or other Pemex departments, was notified of the transaction through the proper documentation. The journalist calculates that, judging by the price of Istmo crude, the value of the cargo can be set at between 18 and 20 million dollars.
“Fifteen days ago, officials from the Pajaritos Logistics Terminal were in Cuba to arrange the logistics of the shipment,” continues Aburto, who attributes the operation to a “thank you” gesture from the Mexican president to Miguel Díaz-Canel. The concept for which the shipment is made, he affirms, is that of “donation.”
“Fifteen days ago, officials from the Pajaritos Logistics Terminal were in Cuba to arrange the logistics of the shipment”
Last April, Mexico sent a tanker to the island on two occasions, the Bicentennialbelonging to Pemex, according to revealed Reuters. A source from the state company assured the British agency that López Obrador has been supplying oil to Cuba, although he did not give details about the amount.
The transfer of tankers with the Cuban or foreign flag through the ports of the Island is increasing. the ship SCF Primewith the Liberian flag and a capacity of approximately 530,000 barrels, set sail from the Russian port of Tuapse, in the Black Sea, towards the island. It is the first Russian oil tanker bound for a Cuban port – it will arrive in Matanzas on July 2 – after the oil supply agreement between Russia and Cuba, points out to 14ymedio the academic and specialist from the University of Texas (USA), Jorge Piñón.
He Delsa is one of the six oil tankers with the Cuban flag – along with Wilma, Alicia, Sandino, Pastorita and Glory C.– which usually loads crude from the Venezuelan port of José to the island’s terminals.
About these ships, Piñón explained to 14ymedio that he Wilma –a ship that disappears from radar as soon as it approaches the Cuban coast– arrived in Cienfuegos on June 1 with 390,000 barrels of crude from José; the same amount charged the Delsaalso from José, to the port of Antilla, on the 30th.
For his part, he Sandino it sailed from José with 440,000 to Nipe Bay, in Holguín, where it arrived on May 5. Meanwhile he Alicia it brought 290,000 barrels to Havana from José on May 16 and another 295,000, coming from another Venezuelan terminal, Amuay, on the 28th.
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