CIA Director Ratcliffe Meets Cuban Officials in Havana

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with senior Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.

Ratcliffe met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who is Raúl Castro’s grandson and Cuba’s Interior Minister, as well as Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the Associated Press.

The encounter took place at the request of the United States government, according to a statement from the Cuban government. U.S.

National security. U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The Cuban government described the talks as occurring in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations.

U.S. officials for their part stressed that Cuba cannot continue to be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere. The meeting occurred against the backdrop of Cuba running out of oil, with its power grid having collapsed and energy supplies to the island’s eastern provinces cut.

Rodríguez Castro previously served as his grandfather’s bodyguard and later as head of Cuba’s equivalent of the Secret Service. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community summit in St.

Kitts in February. U.S. and Cuban officials also met earlier this year in Cuba. U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay since 2016.

In late January, Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. U.S. will provide Cuba with $100 million in humanitarian assistance and support for satellite internet if the Cuban regime will permit it.

U.S. intervenes. Sources told the AP that military action against Cuba is not imminent.