CIA Director Ratcliffe visits Havana to discuss ‘current scenario,’ Cuba says
CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Havana, Cuba, on Thursday to discuss the “current scenario,” Cuba’s government said.
In a Thursday statement, Cuba’s government said Ratcliffe arrived with a delegation as part of a “request” from Washington, which was approved. Ratcliffe met with his counterpart in Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior on Thursday, a meeting that was held “in a context characterized by the complexity of bilateral relations, in order to contribute to political dialogue between the two nations, as part of the efforts to address the current scenario,” the statement said.
“The elements provided by the Cuban side and the exchanges held with the U.S. delegation made it possible to categorically demonstrate that Cuba does not constitute a threat to the national security of the U.S., nor are there legitimate reasons to include it on the list of countries that, allegedly, sponsor terrorism,” the statement reads, referring to a long-running grievance from Havana.
The statement added that Cuba had a record of “confronting and unequivocally condemning terrorism in all its forms,” suggesting that talks around Cuba’s position on the U.S.’s list of state sponsors of terrorism was at the top of the agenda.
The meeting marks Ratcliffe’s first visit to the U.S.-besieged country and makes him the highest-ranking Trump official to visit.
His visit came the same day that Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy revealed that Cuba has “absolutely nothing” left in diesel fuel and oil reserves. Havana and parts of the island have faced blackouts ranging from 20 to 22 hours per day after its Venezuelan oil lifeline was cut off in January following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The United States has continued to turn the screws of pressure against Cuba, implementing new sanctions earlier this month.
The capture of Maduro and change in Caracas’s posture have nearly doomed the already flailing island nation, which now faces a hostile Trump administration with no major allies. High-level talks have taken place behind closed doors to discuss possible reforms that would bring an end to U.S. sanctions, likely including systemic changes that would signal an end to Cuba’s communist revolutionary project.
Ratcliffe’s visit to Cuba hasn’t immediately brought an end to belligerent rhetoric from Washington or Havana. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel claimed the U.S. had imposed a “genocidal energy blockade.”
The State Department has countered that the U.S. has made several private offers to provide assistance, including support for satellite internet and $100 million in humanitarian assistance, but that Havana “refused to allow” the assistance.
“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,” the State Department said on Wednesday.
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