CIA chief meets Cuban officials to deliver message: Trump wants ‘significant changes’
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CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials, including Raúl Castro’s grandson, during a visit to the island on Thursday, Cuban and US officials said.
Ratcliffe met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Minister of the Interior Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of intelligence in Cuba and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to The Associated Press.
Ratcliffe was there “to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is willing to engage in economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes significant changes,” the CIA official said.
An official statement from the Cuban government noted that Thursday’s meeting “took place … against the backdrop of complex bilateral relations.”
While the US insisted that Cuba cannot continue to be “a safe haven for enemies in the Western Hemisphere,” the Cuban delegation insisted that the island does not pose a threat to US security. Cuban officials also opposed the nation’s continued inclusion on the US list of sponsors of terrorism.
Rodríguez Castro previously met privately with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Caribbean Community summit in St. Kitts in February. Although he never held a government position, he served as his grandfather’s bodyguard and later became the head of Cuba’s Secret Service.
American and Cuban officials also met earlier this year in Cuba. The ongoing meetings between US and Cuban officials mark the first US government flights to Cuba outside the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay since 2016.
High tension between nations
Thursday’s meeting comes a few weeks after the Cuban government confirmed that it has recently met with American officials on the island as tensions between the two sides remain high due to the US blockade of electricity in the Caribbean country and as Cuba’s electricity and power in its eastern provinces.
The US oil embargo on the island has exacerbated economic problems, with reduced working hours and food spoilage as freezers stop working.
Earlier this week, the US State Department reiterated that the US would provide Cuba with $100 million in humanitarian aid and support for satellite internet “if the Cuban government will allow it.”
In late January, US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. Although Trump has also threatened to intervene in the country, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel recently said his country is prepared to fight if that happens, a source told The Associated Press earlier this month that a military attack is not imminent.
