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CIA Director John Ratcliffe conveyed a message from US President Donald Trump to Cuba.
Ratcliffe met with Raúl Castro's nephew, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas, and the head of Cuba's intelligence services. They discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the Associated Press.
The CIA director was there "to personally convey President Donald Trump's message that the United States is ready to engage seriously on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba undertakes fundamental changes."
An official Cuban government statement stressed that Thursday's meeting "took place in a context of complex bilateral relations."
The United States stressed that Cuba could not continue to be a “safe haven for enemies in the Western Hemisphere.” The Cuban delegation insisted that the island posed no threat to U.S. security. Cuban officials also objected to the fact that the U.S. continues to keep Cuba on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Rodríguez Castro secretly met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Caribbean Community summit in Saint Kitts last February. Although he has never held government office, he served as his grandfather's bodyguard and later as head of the Cuban secret service.
Thursday's meeting comes just weeks after the Cuban government confirmed it had recently held meetings with US officials on the island, as tensions between the two sides continue over the US energy embargo on Cuba. Cuba's electrical grid has collapsed and power supplies to eastern provinces have been cut off.
The US fuel embargo on Cuba has worsened the country's economic problems, leading to reduced working hours and food spoilage as refrigerators stop working due to lack of power.
Earlier this week, the US State Department reiterated that the US would provide Cuba with $100 million in humanitarian aid and satellite internet support, "if the Cuban regime allows it."
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