US and Cuban officials met recently in Havana amid new diplomatic push
[April 18, 2026]
WASHINGTON (AP) — An American delegation recently met with
Cuban government officials in the island nation, marking a renewed
diplomatic push even as U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to
intervene and Cuba's leader said this week that his country is prepared
to fight if that should happen.
A senior State Department official met with the grandson of retired
Cuban leader Raúl Castro last week during the trip, according to a
department official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and
spoke Friday on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
The official did not say who from the U.S. met with Raúl Guillermo
Rodríguez Castro, whose grandfather is believed to play an influential
role in the Cuban government despite not holding an official post. A
second U.S. official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not part of
the delegation that visited Havana.
U.S. officials have previously said Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants
and a longtime Cuba hawk, met the younger Castro in the Caribbean island
nation of St. Kitts and Nevis in February.
During last week's extraordinary diplomatic push, which was reported
earlier by Axios, the U.S. delegation urged Cuba to make major changes
to its economy and way of governing because it would not let the island
nation become a national security threat in the region, the State
Department official said.
It marked the first U.S. government flight to land in Cuba other than at
the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay since 2016.
Cuba’s crises have deepened following a U.S. energy blockade, coming as
the Trump administration has described its government as ineffective and
abusive. In return for easing sanctions, U.S. demands have included an
end to political repression, a release of political prisoners and a
liberalization of the island’s ailing economy.
Along with those similar topics, the sides last week also discussed a
U.S. proposal to provide free and reliable internet to the island
through a Starlink satellite connection, the State Department official
said.
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People attend a celebration marking the 65th anniversary of the
proclamation declaring the Cuban Revolution socialist, in Havana,
Cuba, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The talks were revealed after Trump said earlier this week that his
administration could focus on Cuba after the war in Iran ends.
“We may stop by Cuba after we finish with this,” he said. He
described it as a “failing nation” and asserted that it has “been a
terribly run country for a long time.”
In response, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the U.S. has no
valid reason to carry out a military attack against the island or
attempt to depose him but that the country was ready to fight back
if needed.
“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again,
as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats,
including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty
to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it,”
Díaz-Canel said.
He was speaking during a rally that drew hundreds of people to
commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban
Revolution’s socialist essence.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry didn't immediately respond to messages
seeking comment about the talks last week.
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