CIA director John Ratcliffe meets Cuban officers amid blackouts, protests throughout Havana | World Information
3 min learnNew DelhiMight 15, 2026 10:34 AM IST
CIA director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officers in Havana to revive ties between the US and the island nation, the Cuban authorities mentioned. The assembly got here in opposition to the backdrop of widespread protests throughout Cuba owing to rampant energy outages induced by a US blockade of power provides to the communist-ruled Caribbean island.
The assembly was held “in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the purpose of contributing to the political dialogue between each nations”, a authorities assertion mentioned.
The assembly happened a day after protests erupted throughout the Cuban capital following an announcement from the nation’s Vitality Minister that the island had utterly run out of diesel and gasoline oil.
Folks drive a basic American automotive via a barricade arrange by residents protesting in opposition to extended energy outages in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photograph)
“We’ve completely no gasoline and completely no diesel,” the Vitality Minister, Vicente de la O Levy, mentioned on Wednesday on state media, as quoted by the Guardian. He added that the nationwide grid was in a “essential” state, and admitting “we now have no reserves”. Gasoline oil is a product derived from crude oil distillation used to generate warmth or energy.
Following O Levy’s announcement, protestors took to the streets in Havana, shouting “activate the lights”, banging pots and pans, and setting hearth to piles of garbage.
The assertion on Thursday (native time) mentioned talks with the US “made it potential to exhibit categorically that Cuba doesn’t represent a risk to US nationwide safety, nor are there any professional causes to incorporate it on the listing of nations that allegedly sponsor terrorism”.
Havana mentioned it “has by no means supported any hostile exercise in opposition to the USA, nor will it allow actions in opposition to every other nation to be carried out from Cuba,” referring to allegations of a Chinese language presence.
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In January, US President Donald Trump imposed an efficient gasoline blockade on Cuba via an government order from that threatened punitive tariffs on international locations supplying gasoline to the island, prompting blackouts lasting so long as 22 hours or extra. For the reason that transfer, Trump has periodically mused in regards to the US taking up the island.
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