It confirmed widespread reports of recent secret meetings between senior Trump administration officials and Cubans close to Raúl Castro, the still-influential former president and party head. It wouldn’t matter.”“We are talking to Cuba, whose leaders should make a deal,” a White House official said Friday in response to questions about the talks. Some Cuba experts have dismissed the idea that Raulito, as he is known in Cuba, would be the government’s choice as a negotiator. Trump then threatened to impose high tariffs on any country that supplied energy to Cuba. A tanker fully loaded with Russian fuel, reportedly destined to reach Cuba the first week in March, never arrived.

Source: Washington Post March 13, 2026 19:09 UTC