CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana to deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States will engage on economic and security issues only if Cuba makes fundamental changes—during a fuel shortage blamed on the U.S. blockade and amid ren
When U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe walked into Havana on Thursday, it wasn’t framed as a routine diplomatic stop. The Trump administration sent him to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message to Cuba—linking any U.S. engagement on economic and security issues to “fundamental changes.”
A CIA official told Fox News. “The United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues. but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.” Ratcliffe’s visit arrived as Cuba publicly insisted it had run out of fuel. with Havana’s power cuts now lasting “20-22 hours. ” a backdrop that has quickly sharpened the stakes for both sides.
For months, the Trump administration has pushed regime change in Cuba as part of what U.S.. officials have described as the “Donroe Doctrine.” U.S.. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime.”
The message Ratcliffe carried fits that broader pressure campaign.. Washington has long designated Havana as a state sponsor of terrorism. and in January Trump accused Russia and China of operating intelligence posts out of Cuba—claims both countries denied.. At the same time. the United States has increased its own military and intelligence reconnaissance flights around the island as it prepares what it describes as a larger U.S.. military buildup in the region.
Rubio made the case in blunt terms Friday, calling the situation “unacceptable” and “a threat to the U.S. to have a failed state 90 miles from our coast.”
Those comments landed as Cuba pointed to the U.S.. blockade for the crisis now unfolding at street level.. Hours before Ratcliffe’s trip. Havana announced it had “absolutely no fuel oil” and “absolutely no diesel.” Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said. “In Havana. blackouts now exceed 20-22 hours.” Cuban residents have reported using charcoal or wood for cooking. and those blackouts have sparked protests in the capital.
Cuba has insisted its energy collapse worsened after recent U.S.. intervention in Latin America.. In January, U.S.. forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and took control of Caracas’s oil industry. which. officials said. stopped Venezuelan crude from reaching Cuba.. Trump then imposed a blockade barring all foreign oil from reaching Havana.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on X on Wednesday that the “dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel.”
The U.S.. and Cuba have been sparring over humanitarian aid as well.. The United States offered Cuba $100 million in humanitarian aid on Wednesday on the condition that Havana agrees to “meaningful reforms.” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla accused Washington of lying about the assistance. and Rubio responded by blaming the Cuban regime for not distributing the aid.. Díaz-Canel rejected that charge on Thursday, writing that any U.S.. aid “will encounter no obstacles or ingratitude from Cuba.”
Ratcliffe. as the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Cuba. met with key figures tied to the island’s security apparatus.. In Havana on Thursday, he met with Raúl Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former President Raúl Castro.. Ratcliffe also met with Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services.
Even as the CIA chief delivered a reform ultimatum, U.S.. prosecutors in Miami are reportedly working to secure an indictment of Raúl Castro himself, who remains influential in Havana.. The scope of the charges remains unclear. but officials suggest they could include drug-trafficking allegations as well as accusations connected to Cuba’s downing of U.S.. humanitarian planes in 1996.
In Havana, the trip was taking place under intense public pressure.. Cuba’s fuel shortage is not just another policy dispute; officials say it is driving daily hardship and protests in the capital. giving the U.S.. demand for “fundamental changes” a sharper edge.. For Washington. the visit signaled that the administration is pressing forward on a regime-change blueprint while expanding its security footprint around the island.
For now, Ratcliffe’s stop leaves the confrontation in a familiar place: the United States says engagement is conditional, Cuba says U.S. actions are the root cause, and a fuel-starved Havana is waiting to see whether Washington’s push for change will translate into any shift on the ground.