Cuba confirms talks with US officials, wants an end to Trump’s energy blockade | Donald Trump News

A Cuban foreign ministry official said the exchange with Washington was “respectful and professional” and avoided threats.

The Cuban government confirmed that it held recent talks in Havana with officials from the United States, as tension remains high between the two countries over Washington’s energy blockade of the Caribbean country.

Alejandro Garcia del Toro, deputy director general in charge of US affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Monday that the US delegation included assistant secretaries of state, and the Cuban delegation included representatives at the level of deputy foreign minister.

Garcia de Toro said that the US delegation did not issue any threats or deadlines as reported by some US media.

“The entire exchange was conducted with respect and professionalism,” he said.

In comments reported by Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma, Garcia del Toro stressed that ending the three-month-old US oil embargo was “a top priority” for the Cuban government in the talks, and accused Washington of “blackmail” for threatening countries that export oil to Cuba with tariffs.

“This act of economic coercion is an unjustified punishment for the entire Cuban population,” he said.

“It is also a form of global blackmail against sovereign states, which have every right to export fuel to Cuba, in accordance with the principles of free trade,” he added.

US news outlet Axios reported on Friday that officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration held several meetings in Havana on April 10, including with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of former President Raul Castro. The meetings marked the first time US diplomats have flown into Cuba since 2016 in a new diplomatic push.

US officials have reportedly laid out several conditions for negotiations with Cuba to proceed, including the release of prominent political prisoners, an end to political repression and the liberalization of the island’s ailing economy.

The Reuters news agency said that US proposals for Cuba also include allowing Elon Musk’s Starlink internet terminals in the country and providing compensation to Americans and US corporations for assets confiscated by Cuba after the 1959 revolution. Washington is also concerned about the influence of foreign powers on the island, a US official told the news agency.

Trump hinted at military intervention in Cuba and warned of tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. The fuel blockade has exacerbated Cuba’s economic and energy crisis, leading to warnings of a humanitarian disaster.

Cubans also braced for a possible attack after Trump’s repeated warnings that the country would be “next” after his war with Iran and the US military’s kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.

Last week, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said that his country was prepared to fight if the US carried out its threats.

The leaders of Mexico, Spain and Brazil on Saturday expressed concern about the “dramatic situation” in Cuba and urged “sincere and respectful dialogue.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that there is no obvious justification for the US to attack Cuba.

“The ability to defend oneself does not mean the right to intervene militarily in other states when their political systems do not match what others may have in mind,” he said.