The president Donald Trump stated this Sunday that he is having conversations with Cuba at the highest level and believes that they will reach an agreement.
"Well, Cuba is a failed nation; it has been for a long time, but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up, so we are talking to the people of Cuba, the most important people in Cuba, to see what happens," he said in statements made to the press this Sunday from his residence in Mar-a-Lago, in the state of Florida.
"I want them to take care of the people who came here, who were treated horribly by Cuba, so they can return and do what they need to do, you know, that they have their family there, they haven't been able to see them for years, many years. I believe we are going to make a deal with Cuba," he added.
The statements were made when Trump arrived at Mar-a-Lago to attend the wedding of Dan Scavino, a former member of his cabinet during the first term.
The president's words come in the context of a tightening of U.S. policy toward Havana, marked by new sanctions and a deep economic and energy crisis in Cuba.
In recent days, Trump asserted that his administration had begun exploratory contacts with Cuba, a signal that contrasts with the simultaneous tightening of sanctions.
The White House has not denied the existence of those contacts, while Havana has maintained official silence.
The immediate backdrop is an unprecedented energy crisis in Cuba, exacerbated by an executive order signed by Trump that aims to cut off oil supplies to the island through sanctions on third countries.
The measure coincided with the suspension of crude oil shipments from Mexico and the end of Venezuelan support, which has intensified blackouts and the collapse of basic services.
Washington presents the pressure as part of a strategy to force political changes, while the Cuban government denounces an “energy blockade” and rejects any dialogue under sanctions.
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