2 hours ago
6
A delegation of elder State Department representatives traveled to Cuba via a U.S. authorities level past week, a section authoritative and 2 U.S. officials told CBS News, a diplomatic opening arsenic the land federation struggles with months of intense pressure from the Trump administration.
While successful Cuba, 1 U.S. diplomat met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of erstwhile President Raúl Castro, who is wide seen arsenic a cardinal powerfulness halfway wrong the Cuban government, the State Department authoritative said.
It is unclear who other participated successful the talks connected the U.S. oregon Cuban side.
Axios was first to report connected the visit, which marks the archetypal clip a U.S. authorities level has landed successful Cuba since erstwhile President Barack Obama traveled to the island successful 2016.
During the meetings, the U.S. delegation discussed the Trump administration's push for governmental and economical reforms, arsenic good arsenic the U.S.'s demands for the merchandise of governmental prisoners, the State Department authoritative said. The Americans besides floated offering Cuba entree to Starlink, a outer net work operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
"The delegation reiterated that the Cuban system is successful escaped autumn and that the island's ruling elites person a tiny model to marque cardinal U.S. backed reforms earlier circumstances irreversibly worsen," the authoritative told CBS News.
The authoritative added that President Trump is unfastened to resolving the U.S.'s concerns done diplomacy, but helium "will not fto the land illness into a large nationalist information menace if Cuba's leaders are unwilling oregon incapable to act."
Cuba is successful the throes of a months-long vigor situation pursuing Mr. Trump's menace to impose dense tariffs connected immoderate state that exports lipid to Cuba. Oil shipments to the land person efficaciously stopped, though the U.S. allowed a Russian-flagged tanker to dock successful Havana past period for what the medication described as a humanitarian reprieve.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has repeatedly floated the thought of intervening successful Cuba. Last month, helium called Cuba a "failing country" and suggested it could "be next," pursuing the U.S.'s removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and warfare with Iran.
Earlier this week, the president told reporters, without elaborating, that "we whitethorn halt by Cuba aft we're finished with this." And connected Friday, helium said helium is seeking to "bring astir a time 70 years successful waiting — it's called a caller dawn for Cuba," apt referring to the gyration that brought Fidel Castro and the country's communist question to powerfulness immoderate 67 years ago.
Both Cuba and the U.S. person acknowledged that talks are underway, but it's unclear however adjacent the 2 sides are to a resolution. Cuba said earlier this twelvemonth it volition loosen immoderate restrictions connected overseas investments, a determination Secretary of State Marco Rubio called insufficient.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel rebuffed Mr. Trump's rhetoric during a rally Thursday, and vowed that the state volition "be ready" for a imaginable U.S. subject offensive.
"We bash not privation it, but it is our work to hole to debar it and, if it becomes inevitable, to decision it," Díaz-Canel said.
Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
In:
English (US) ·