Exceptional Event: CIA Director Flew to Cuba

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe flew to Havana on Thursday to meet with Cuba's Minister of Internal Affairs and the head of the island nation's intelligence service amidst a severe fuel shortage and the first street protests there in many years. Visits by the CIA director are always exceptional. This one is particularly special, as the Cuban regime has been based on confrontation with the US for seven decades.

The photo from the meeting, distributed by the US Central Intelligence Agency, speaks for itself. Ratcliffe looks at his interlocutors, while they, as one, have averted their eyes.

However, external formalities were observed: the hosts even wore black suits instead of the white guayabera shirts usually adopted by officials in Cuba. A long table was covered with a white tablecloth and decorated with bouquets of red roses and gypsophila. The lights were on—which is significant in a country where electricity has recently been switched on for only two to three hours a day.

Cuba found itself in complete failure after the US gained control over Venezuela in a lightning operation. Venezuela was the main source of oil for Cuba. In return, Havana provided Caracas with security forces and bodyguards, who, as it turned out, were unable to protect President Maduro. When Venezuela and Mexico were forced to stop oil supplies to Cuba, the power crisis in Havana became only a matter of time. Russia also proved unable to help its former client. Only one tanker with Russian fuel arrived in Cuba, but to supply the island, eight such tankers are needed per month. Fuel reserves on the island were enough for one quarter. Cuba itself covers only 40% of its energy needs from its own production – the bare minimum for the operation of essential services and enterprises.

The Cuban government stated that the meeting with the CIA chief took place at the request of the US. Ratcliffe noted that Cuba needs to fundamentally change for cooperation with the US on economic and security issues, a CIA representative reported. Ratcliffe told Cuban officials that they have a limited time window to stabilize the island's economy and begin engagement with the Trump administration, reported The Wall Street Journal, citing an official.

Ratcliffe warned his Cuban counterparts that President Trump does not make idle threats. To reinforce this point, he precisely reminded them of the US military raid in Venezuela.

In January, Trump declared Cuba an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to US national security, using emergency powers to increase pressure on Havana. Since then, Trump has often warned that Cuba "would be next" in his campaign against hostile regimes in the Western Hemisphere.

Havana stated that it provided the American delegation with information that "unequivocally demonstrates that Cuba poses no threat to US national security. There are no grounds for including Cuba on the American list of state sponsors of terrorism."

Cuban officials informed the US team that there are no foreign military bases on the island. Cuba "does not support, finance, or permit the activities of terrorist or extremist organizations," the government stated.

Moscow closed its military base in Cuba in 2002. In the last decade, Russia tried to restore its presence in Cuba, but the difficult war in Ukraine diverted all available Russian forces.

Ratcliffe's visit came a day after the Cuban government announced that the country had run out of fuel oil and diesel, necessary to maintain electricity supply. Large-scale power outages sparked protests in Havana. These were the first after many years of harsh repression: people are boiling over due to multi-day blackouts and deteriorating living conditions.

For many years, Cuba presented itself as an "island of freedom," yet a harsh totalitarian regime was established within the country. The life of a person in communist Cuba was brilliantly described by Belarusian writer Alena Brava, who spent the early 1990s on the island. Her book is called "Curfew for Swallows."

In a post on Wednesday on the social network X, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that the island's power grid outages have only one cause: "the genocidal energy blockade imposed against our country by the US."

Among the Cuban figures at Thursday's meeting were Cuba's Minister of Internal Affairs Lázaro Álvarez and Raúl Rodríguez Castro, known as "The Crab" — the influential grandson of the 90-year-old leader of the Cuban revolution, Raúl Castro.

Rodríguez Castro earned the nickname "The Crab" (El Cangrejo) because he was born with six fingers on one hand. In recent months, he has become one of the main negotiators with high-ranking American officials. Previously, he was his grandfather's bodyguard and chief aide.

The US insists on the release of political prisoners and market reforms in Cuba. They also want to exclude the use of Cuba by Russia and China for military purposes.

Washington's demands mean a change of system for Cuba. As the experience of Venezuela shows, the current American administration does not insist on changing figures in power or even on a rapid transition to democracy. It is ready to work with the same leadership, provided that it ceases to pursue anti-American policies and hands over economically important sectors to US control.

• 10
• 2
• 0
• 1
• 1
• 0
• 1
• 1