CIA Director delivered a message from Trump to Cuba - Reuters
Kyiv • UNN
The CIA Director conveyed Trump's demand for reforms to Cuba as a prerequisite for cooperation. The US promises assistance only on the condition of fundamental changes in the country.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Thursday delivered a message from U.S. President Donald Trump to high-ranking Cuban officials in Havana, stating that the U.S. will "seriously engage" with the island's government on economic and security issues "only if it makes fundamental changes," a CIA official told Reuters, UNN reports.
Details
Ratcliffe's visit appeared to be only the second visit by a CIA director to Cuba since the 1959 revolution led by former leader Fidel Castro, highlighting a rare moment of high-level contact between the two countries.
The CIA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify the specific changes Trump is demanding.
Meanwhile, the CIA posted a series of photos on X with the caption "Havana, Cuba."
For decades, the U.S. has demanded that Cuba open its state-run economy, pay reparations for property expropriated by the Castro government, and hold "free and fair" elections.
Ratcliffe arrived amid growing tensions between Washington and Havana.
Trump has increased pressure on Cuba, effectively imposing a fuel blockade on the island by threatening tariffs on countries that supply it with fuel, causing seemingly endless power outages and dealing new blows to the island's already ailing economy, the publication writes.
Mass protests broke out across Havana on Wednesday night as rolling blackouts in parts of the city lasted up to 24 hours or more, threatening food supplies and making sleep difficult for many residents.
Cuba's Minister of Energy and Mines stated that the country has run out of diesel and fuel oil, and its power grid has entered a "critical" state.
Cuba was the first to report Ratcliffe's visit in a statement saying he held talks with his Cuban counterpart at the Ministry of the Interior in Havana. The names of the officials he met with were not specified.
"Both sides... emphasized their interest in developing bilateral cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the interests of the security of both countries, as well as regional and international security," the statement said.
Cuban representatives stated that the island does not pose a threat to U.S. national security, according to the statement.
According to a Reuters witness, the statement was released after a U.S. government plane was spotted departing Havana's international airport on Thursday afternoon.
The CIA official said the Cubans Ratcliffe met with included Raulito Rodriguez Castro, Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas, and the island's intelligence chief.
Ratcliffe conveyed "Trump's message that the United States is ready to seriously engage in economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes," the official said.
The parties also discussed "intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues, all against the backdrop of Cuba no longer being a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere," the official added.
The official did not name the adversaries they discussed.
Ratcliffe sought to begin substantive talks on the steps Havana must take to build a productive relationship with Washington, the official said.
The official compared the possibility of cooperation to Venezuela, where hostility turned into tentative cooperation after a U.S. military operation in January that toppled President Nicolas Maduro, who was brought to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges.
Maduro has pleaded not guilty.
According to the official, Cuba has a rare opportunity to stabilize its declining economy, but added that the chance to improve conditions for its nearly 10 million people will not last forever.
Trump has threatened that Cuba is "next" after Venezuela, the publication notes.
Officials from both countries acknowledged earlier this year that they were in talks, but the negotiations appeared to have collapsed amid the ongoing U.S. fuel blockade, the publication points out.
Ratcliffe visited Venezuela after the operation that toppled Maduro. As Reuters previously reported, he held talks with interim President Delcy Rodriguez to discuss the Trump administration's push for cooperation.