Trump says US talking deal with ‘highest people’ in Cuba
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On Jan 29, the Republican president signed an executive order threatening to impose additional tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Feb 1 that Washington was negotiating with Havana’s leadership to strike a deal, days after he threatened Cuba’s reeling economy with a virtual oil blockade.
“Cuba is a failing nation. It has been for a long time, but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up,” Mr Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
“So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens. I think we’re going to make a deal with Cuba,” he added, giving no indication of what such a deal would look like.
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm the US President’s remarks in a statement released on its website on Feb 1, but took the opportunity to once again reject that the island is a “threat to the security of the United States”.
It specifically asserted that Cuba does not “host any foreign military or intelligence bases”, but added that it is willing to “maintain a respectful and reciprocal dialogue” with the US.
Mr Trump’s second administration has been ratcheting up pressure on the communist-run island nation off south Florida since the Jan 3 US ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro,
On Jan 29, the Republican President signed an executive order threatening to impose additional tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba. Hours later, Cubans were queueing on Jan 30 in long lines at petrol stations in Havana.
Mr Mike Hammer, the US charge d’affaires to Cuba since 2024, said during a visit over the weekend to Trinidad town in central Cuba that he encountered residents who “shouted some insults” at him.
“I think they belong to a certain party, but I know they do not represent the Cuban people, the ordinary Cubans,” Mr Hammer said in a video posted on X, in reference to the Communist Party of Cuba.
Meanwhile, the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in a statement on X: “The illegitimate Cuban regime must immediately stop its repressive acts of sending individuals to interfere with the diplomatic work of CDA Hammer and members of the @USembcuba team.”
“Our diplomats will continue to meet with the Cuban people despite the regime’s failed intimidation,” the agency added.
Mr Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban exiles, have made no secret of their desire to bring about regime change in Havana.
After Maduro’s fall, the US President warned Havana to “make a deal soon” or face unspecified consequences.
“NO MORE OIL OR MONEY FOR CUBA: ZERO!” Mr Trump had stated earlier, claiming Cuba was “ready to fall”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Jan 31 her administration was planning to send humanitarian aid to Cuba, including “food and other products”, while working on a diplomatic solution to continue sending oil to the island despite Mr Trump’s threatened tariffs.
“We never discussed with President Trump the issue of oil with Cuba,” Ms Sheinbaum added, after the two leaders had spoken by phone on Jan 29.
For its part, the Cuban government has accused Mr Trump of seeking to strangle the island’s economy, where daily power cuts are intensifying and lines at gas stations keep getting longer. AFP
