May 15, 20269:23 AM ET
As the specter of the U.S.-led regime change grows, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released photos of agency chief John Ratcliffe meeting with Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday.
Ratcliffe and several U.S. officials—some of whose faces were blurred by the CIA in images posted to X—held talks Thursday with Cuba’s Interior Minister, the head of Cuban intelligence and Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raulito Rodríguez Castro. A CIA official told The Associated Press that the director was there “to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.”
As the specter of the U.S.-led regime change grows, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released photos of agency chief John Ratcliffe meeting with Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday.
Ratcliffe and several U.S. officials—some of whose faces were blurred by the CIA in images posted to X—held talks Thursday with Cuba’s Interior Minister, the head of Cuban intelligence and Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raulito Rodríguez Castro. A CIA official told The Associated Press that the director was there “to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.”
The threat of regime change in Cuba has grown in recent weeks. President Donald Trump has repeatedly mused about taking over Cuba and suggested May 8 that a U.S. aircraft might leave the Iran War theater and position itself off the country’s coast. The administration has also intensified its economic war, blocking oil shipments since January. Amid energy blackouts, a collapsing economy and protests in the capital, Cuba’s oil and gas supplies have now run dry, according to Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy.
“We have absolutely no fuel [oil] and absolutely no diesel,” he said Wednesday. “We have no reserves.”
In a perhaps telling sign, the U.S. Air Force is intensifying its reconnaissance flights off Cuba’s coast. Since Feb. 4, the U.S. Navy and Air Force have conducted at least 25 intelligence-gathering flights, CNN reported. Most of these have occurred near Havana and Santiago de Cuba, with some getting within 40 miles of Cuba’s coastline, according to CNN. Notably, the U.S. military has reportedly used P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes, RC-135V Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft and MQ-4C Triton high-altitude drones, all of which were deployed ahead of the raid on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
During the meeting with Ratcliffe, Cuban officials insisted that the country “does not constitute a threat to the national security of the US” and there are no “legitimate reasons” for Cuba to be included on the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, according to CNN.
A senior U.S. State Department delegation previously held talks with Havana in April, pressuring the country to make a deal to end the U.S. blockade. The U.S. delegation said in that meeting that Cuba must “make significant economic and governance reforms to enhance competitiveness, attract foreign investment, and allow private sector-led growth,” CNN reported. Additionally, the delegation reportedly demanded a release of political prisoners and an increase of “political freedoms,” while expressing concerns over “foreign intelligence, military, and terror groups operating with Cuban governmental permission less than 100 miles from the American homeland.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. is reportedly in the process of hitting Raúl Castro, Fidel’s brother and the former president of Cuba, with an indictment in connection to the 1996 downing of unarmed planes flown by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. Three American citizens and a permanent U.S. resident were killed in the attack by Cuban MiGs. Any indictment would have to be issued by a grand jury following a review of evidence.
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