Ratcliffe meets – CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Cuban intelligence and interior officials in Havana amid U.S. calls for major changes and renewed aid offers.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday, in an encounter that both sides portrayed as tied to U.S. outreach, but with sharp differences over what Cuba would have to change to win broader engagement.
Ratcliffe met with Raulito Rodriguez Castro, a Cuban government official and the grandson of former president Raúl Castro, as well as with the head of Cuba’s intelligence service, according to a CIA official and a statement from the Cuban government.
The CIA official said Ratcliffe was in Havana “to personally deliver President Trump’s message” that the United States is prepared to engage on economic and security issues. but only if Cuba makes “fundamental changes.” The official added that discussions covered “intelligence cooperation. economic stability. and security issues. ” with the U.S.. position framed around the idea that Cuba can no longer serve as “a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere.”
Cuba’s government. in its own statement. said it provided information that allowed it “to categorically demonstrate” that Cuba does not pose a threat to U.S.. national security.. Cuba also rejected the premise behind the U.S.. decision to treat the island as a terrorism sponsor. saying there were no “legitimate reasons” for it to be included on the list.
The dispute comes amid shifting U.S. policy. The Biden administration removed Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in January 2025, but President Donald Trump reinstated that designation on his first day in office of his second term.
The Ratcliffe meeting also lands as Cuba confronts a deepening energy crisis.. Cuban officials have pointed to the recent collapse of a key external supply, with the U.S.. arrest of Venezuela’s president in January dealing a major blow to Cuba’s ally.. Venezuela had been a critical source of oil for Cuba.
A Cuban energy minister said this week that the island has run out of oil. Vicente de la O Levy told state media on Wednesday that Cuba has run out of fuel.
Beyond security discussions, the meeting is unfolding alongside renewed U.S. efforts to pressure Cuba while offering limited relief. The Cuban government said Thursday’s talks were held at the request of the U.S. government.
In parallel. the State Department said on Wednesday it is prepared to provide $100 million in “direct assistance to the Cuban people. ” an offer Cuba’s foreign minister described as a first.. But the State Department’s language was distinctly hostile toward Havana. calling it a “corrupt regime” and saying the Cuban government refuses to let the U.S.. provide assistance to people who it said are in “desperate need” due to the regime’s failures.
The U.S.. said it would support “free and fast satellite internet” and provide the $100 million as direct humanitarian assistance. with distribution described as coordinated with the Catholic Church and other “reliable independent humanitarian organizations.” The department also said the effort would be blocked because Cuba will not allow the assistance to reach people without government interference.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a post on X on Thursday that the government is waiting for more details but does not reject aid offered “in good faith.” He said the timing reflects an “incongruity” between U.S.. language about generosity and the reality that Cuba, in his view, subjects its people to collective punishment through “economic warfare.”
Rodriguez said Cuba is willing to hear the terms and how the assistance would be implemented, adding that it should be “free of political maneuvering” and attempts to exploit “hardships and suffering.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio. in an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas on Thursday. pushed the U.S.. position further.. Rubio said the holdup is the Cuban government itself and that the money would only come with strings: it must be distributed by non-governmental organizations so it cannot become humanitarian aid that authorities “steal for itself.”
The U.S. embargo and sanctions against Cuba date back to the Cold War. Relations briefly thawed under the Obama administration in 2014, but President Trump reversed most of those steps in 2017.
This latest diplomacy and aid offer is being tested against the immediate reality of Cuba’s fuel shortage and a broader shift in regional dynamics, after the U.S. move against Venezuela left Cuba without a reliable ally and supplier.
CIA Director Ratcliffe Cuba-US relations Havana meeting Marco Rubio Trump Cuba policy Venezuela oil crisis
so now we just flying to cuba like its nothing
Wait I thought Cuba was still like totally closed off to us?? My cousin tried to go there a few years back and had all kinds of problems so idk why the CIA director is just casually hanging out in Havana like its a vacation spot or something. Something feels off about this whole story.
So basically they’re saying “change stuff” but they won’t say what. Cool.
This is basically Obama all over again and we all saw how that turned out. Biden took them off the terror list and then everything got worse not better. The Cuban government hasnt changed one single thing they just keep saying they dont do anything wrong while literally doing all the things they say they dont do. And now Ratcliffe is flying down there personally like that means something. The Castro family is still running everything over there, the article literally says he met with Castros grandson, so nothing has changed and nothing is going to change no matter how many CIA directors show up with messages from Trump. I just dont see what the point is unless there is some kind of deal already done that they arent telling us about.
honestly this is probably about the energy thing they mentioned, cuba been having blackouts for like a year now and when people are desperate thats when you can actually get them to negotiate. my uncle lived there til the 90s and he always said the only time the government there talks is when the lights are literally out.
Why is he meeting with Cuban intel if they’re “not a threat”?? Feels like propaganda on both sides. Also Trump aid offers?? that’s just leverage.
I saw ‘terrorism sponsor’ and I automatically thought it was about Havana having missiles or something. Like if Cuba isn’t doing anything then why even keep the list? Idk, this Ratcliffe guy sounds like he’s just there to pressure them and call it diplomacy.
Cuba says they showed proof they don’t threaten us, but the US says they can’t be a “safe haven for adversaries.” That wording is so vague it could mean anything. And the energy crisis part… I’m guessing this meeting is really about money/aid getting tied up in politics, not intelligence cooperation. Raulito Castro meeting makes it sound like some family business too, which is weird.