CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with his Cuban counterpart at the interior ministry in Havana, after the US renewed an offer of $100 million in aid to ease the effects of its oil blockade. A Cuban statement said the meeting was an attempt to improve dialogue and American officials were told Havana was not a threat to US national security.
A CIA official told CBS News that the US is “prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.” Fuel shortages exacerbated by the US oil blockade have left hospitals unable to function normally and forced schools and government offices to close. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said that instead of offering aid, conditions could be eased faster if the US lifted its blockade.
Attending the meeting was Raúl Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former President Raúl Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas, and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services, the CIA official told CBS News. The delegation met “to personally deliver President Trump's message,” the official added. “During the meeting, Director Ratcliffe and Cuban officials discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues, all against the backdrop that Cuba can no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere.”
The Cuban statement said: “Both sides also underscored their interest in developing bilateral cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the interest of the security of both countries, as well as regional and international security.” Cuba and the US acknowledged earlier this year they were in talks, but negotiations appeared to stall as the oil blockade wore on.
Cuba has in the past relied on Venezuela and Mexico to supply oil to its refinery system. However, the two countries have largely cut off supplies since US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on countries that send fuel to Cuba. Earlier on Thursday, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Cuba was “ready to hear the details of the US aid proposal and how it would be implemented.”
On Wednesday, the US state department said it was renewing an offer to “provide generous assistance to the Cuban people.” Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said that Havana had rejected a previous US offer of humanitarian aid worth $100 million, a claim Cuba denied. The state department repeated its offer but made it clear that the aid would have to be distributed “in coordination with the Catholic Church and other reliable independent humanitarian organisations,” bypassing the Cuban government.
Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy warned that Cuba had completely run out of diesel and fuel oil, and the energy system was in a “critical” state due to the US-led blockade. Cubans have been suffering from extensive blackouts for months. On Wednesday, after the latest power cut, hundreds took to the streets in Havana, blocking roads with burning rubbish and shouting anti-government slogans. It marked the biggest single night of demonstrations in the city since Cuba’s energy crisis began in January.
Diaz-Canel acknowledged the “particularly tense” situation across the island, which he blamed on the US. “This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country,” he wrote on social media. Washington’s blockade ramped up in early May when the US imposed fresh sanctions on senior Cuban officials it accused of committing human rights abuses. Rodríguez called the sanctions “illegal and abusive.”
Source: www.bbc.com