CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday, the Cuban government confirmed, in a bid to improve dialogue between the United States and the communist-run island. The meeting occurred against a backdrop of severely strained bilateral relations, according to a statement from Havana.
The talks came a day after protests erupted across the capital following an announcement by Cuba's energy minister, Vicente de la O Levy, that the country had run out of diesel and fuel oil. 'We have absolutely no fuel and absolutely no diesel,' he said on state media, describing the national grid as in a 'critical' state with no reserves.
Residents took to the streets on Wednesday evening, shouting 'turn on the lights', banging pots and pans, and setting fire to rubbish piles to protest blackouts lasting up to 22 hours. The US has imposed a fuel blockade since January, and President Donald Trump has tightened sanctions, contributing to the crisis.
The Cuban statement said the meeting with Ratcliffe allowed it to demonstrate that Cuba poses no threat to US national security and should not be on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. It also denied allegations of a Chinese presence on the island.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has offered $100 million in aid, conditional on distribution by the Catholic church, bypassing the government. President Miguel Diaz-Canel urged the US to lift the blockade instead, stating that the humanitarian situation is 'coldly calculated and induced'. Despite tensions, a high-level diplomatic meeting took place in Havana on 10 April, the first US government plane to land there since 2016.
