U.S. and Cuban Officials Meet Amid Energy Crisis and Security Tensions
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The CIA published photos of Director Ratcliffe’s Thursday visit to Havana. President Trump has insisted over the past months that the United States would no longer tolerate the national security threat posed by the Cuban regime and has hinted at a friendly “takeover” of the island nation. Cuban regime officials have confirmed that they met with U.S. government representatives in Cuba in recent months. This month, President Trump increased pressure on the authoritarian communist regime by imposing sanctions on GAESA, the Cuban military’s mega-conglomerate that allows the communist regime to fund its repression of the Cuban people. GAESA exerts control over as much as 40 percent of the entire Cuban economy.
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ABC News"Be prepared for significant disruption," The U.S. embassy said. CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with top Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security "all against the backdrop that Cuba can no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western hemisphere," a CIA official told ABC News.
New York PostWASHINGTON — CIA Director John Ratcliffe has warned Cuban officials that the Communist island “can no longer be a safe haven for adversaries” of the US while extending an offer of cooperation on economic and national security matters — if Havana makes “fundamental changes.”
The Guardian USOn Thursday, the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, travelled to Cuba to demand “fundamental changes”. The US wants economic reform, the closure of Chinese and Russian intelligence posts, and reportedly the removal of President Miguel Díaz‑Canel. That would reinforce the administration’s message that it controls the Americas. Marco Rubio, secretary of state and the child of Cuban migrants, has long taken a harsh line towards Havana, and Cuban‑Americans are an important part of Mr Trump’s base. A cut in migration – Cuban rates have rocketed in recent years – would please supporters.
NPR NewsHAVANA — CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro's grandson during a high-level visit to the island Thursday, Cuban and U.S. officials said.
The HillCuba in crisis amid pressure from Trump administration: 5 things to know Cuban officials on Friday announced that the island country has run out of oil and diesel as it grapples with a worsening humanitarian crisis in the face of increasing pressure from the Trump administration to change its ways under U.S. terms or risk potential military action. Decades of sanctions stemming from Cold War-era tensions between…
New York TimesPhotos: Cuba Plunges Into Darkness as U.S. Cuts Off Oil Supply The United States has choked off Cuba’s fuel supply, plunging the already impoverished island into an acute energy crisis.
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Cuba’s national energy grid suffered a major failure that severed power to the island’s eastern provinces as residents in the capital Havana faced ongoing blackouts. Some residents in the capital set up burning barricades to protest the prolonged power outages.
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ABC NewsOn Wednesday, a breakdown on the electrical grid took out power to much of the eastern half of the country. Lights are more likely to go out in east Cuba because it has a poorer demographic of residents, and power lines that were damaged in Hurricane Helena in September 2024 have still not been repaired, De la Fuente said.
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As a result of the energy crisis, Cuba's economy is grinding to a halt, the experts said. Grocery store shelves are empty. Hospitals can barely function. The lack of diesel has stalled the agricultural sector, marine vessels and trucks, Piñon said.
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New York PostThe curbing of Cuba’s energy supply has caused blackouts and an economic downturn with downstream effects on other critical services such as medical care, President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in March.
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While the U.S. stressed that Cuba cannot continue to be a "safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere," the Cuban delegation insisted that the island presents no threat to U.S. security. Cuban officials also took issue with the nation's continued inclusion on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
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BreitbartOnce again, it was made clear that the island does not harbor, support, finance, or permit terrorist or extremist organizations; nor are there any foreign military or intelligence bases on its territory, and it has never supported any hostile activity against the U.S. nor will it allow actions against another nation to be carried out from Cuba.
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This week, Sec. Rubio confirmed that the Castro regime rejected a $100-million U.S. humanitarian assistance package for the Cuban people to be delivered with the assistance of the Catholic Church. The U.S. State Department reiterated the offer, as the humanitarian aid package would provide significant assistance to the Cuban people. On Thursday, Cuban figurehead “President” Miguel Díaz-Canel claimed on social media that the Castro regime is willing to accept the help and that it would find “no obstacle nor ingratitude” from Cuba.
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NPR NewsEarlier this week, the U.S. State Department reiterated that the U.S. will provide Cuba with $100 million in humanitarian assistance and support for satellite internet "if the Cuban regime will permit it."
New York Post“The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical living-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said.
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In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a private meeting with Rodriguez Castro on the sidelines of a gathering of Caribbean heads of government on the island of St. Kitts.
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NPR NewsRodríguez Castro previously secretly met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community summit in St. Kitts in February. While he's never occupied a government post, he served as his grandfather's bodyguard and later as head of Cuba's equivalent of the Secret Service.
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U.S. and Cuban officials also met earlier this year in Cuba. The ongoing meetings between U.S. and Cuban officials mark the first U.S. government flights to land in Cuba other than at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay since 2016.
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New York PostRatcliffe’s visit marked the first direct talks between US and Cuban officials on the latter’s home turf since 2016.
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Exclusive: Cuba’s top diplomat outlines red lines to Trump as it braces for US invasion Cuba’s top diplomat in the U.S. said the country is sticking to its red lines amid faltering negotiations it says have made “no progress” and a looming threat from President Trump to invade the nation. Lianys Torres Rivera sat down with The Hill at a critical 24-hour period for Cuba. The island’s energy minister announced…
6 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 The Guardian US The decades-long US embargo has been punitive. But Cubans’ hostility to the US does not preclude anger at their own leaders, who failed to push through promised economic reforms during Barack Obama’s thaw, and launched a 2021 currency restructuring that proved disastrous amid deep domestic weaknesses and intensified US sanctions. That – and the violent crackdown on resulting protests – destroyed the faith of many who believed in the promises and achievements of the revolution.
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02 ABC News On Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Cuba issued a security alert about the country's worsening power crisis -- stating that the national electrical grid "is increasingly unstable."
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03 RealClearPolitics Communist Cuba Is Leaning on Capitalists After Oil Runs Out
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04 Associated Press A free, solar-powered charging station, or “solinera” as it’s known, has opened in Santa Clara, in Cuba’s central region. It has become a lifeline for people on an island plagued by chronic blackouts and a severe gas shortage stemming from a U.S. energy blockade. (AP Video: Ariel Fernández and Milexsy Durán)
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05 Breitbart “Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!!! In the meantime, I’m off to China! President DJT,” President Trump wrote on a Truth Social post before departing to China.
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06 New York Post Trump upped the pressure earlier this month with increased sanctions against countries or companies doing business with the island nation.
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Sources (10)
- abc
- npr
- nypost
- nyt
- guardian
- rcp
- breitbart
- ap
- usatoday
- thehill