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John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, visited Havana on Thursday leading a U.S. delegation and met with his counterpart from the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, marking one of the highest-level contacts between Washington and the regime in recent years.
The Cuban regime itself confirmed the meeting through an official statement, which specified that the visit was requested by the U.S. government and approved by "the Leadership of the Revolution."
According to the official text, the main focus of the meeting was the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, known by its English acronym SSOT.
The regime affirmed that during the meeting, "it was categorically demonstrated that Cuba does not pose a threat to the national security of the United States, nor are there legitimate reasons to include it on the list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism."
The Cuban delegation also reiterated to Ratcliffe that "the Island does not harbor, support, finance, or allow terrorist or extremist organizations; nor are there military or foreign intelligence bases on its territory, and it has never supported any hostile activities against the U.S.".
Both parties also expressed "interest in developing bilateral cooperation between the law enforcement and compliance bodies, in support of the security of both nations, as well as regional and international security," according to the regime's statement.
CiberCuba had access to the information before the regime confirmed it publicly, through two untraceable sources. The news was reported in advance about the landing of a U.S. Air Force plane at José Martí International Airport, identified as flight SAM554, a Boeing C-40B Clipper with registration 01-0040, arriving from Joint Base Andrews in Washington.
The visit comes at a time of heightened pressure from Washington on Havana.
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against the regime, signed two executive orders, and intercepted seven tankers bound for the island.
On the same Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated to NBC that "it is impossible to change Cuba's economic course while the current leaders remain in power," although he added, "we have to give it a chance."
A senior official from the State Department confirmed to NTN24 that Cuba has "a small opportunity to reach an agreement" and that the regime "should stop playing around."
The visit of Ratcliffe follows the pattern of direct intelligence diplomacy that he applied in January 2026, when he traveled to Caracas to meet with Venezuelan authorities following the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
The immediate background includes the first official flight of a U.S. government aircraft to Cuba since 2016, which took place on April 10, during which State Department officials allegedly delivered an ultimatum to release high-profile political prisoners such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and rapper Maykel Osorbo.
The regime responded with partial pardons: 52 prisoners in March and 2,010 in April, without publicly acknowledging them as part of any negotiation.
Foreign companies linked to GAESA have until June 5, 2026 to cease operations with sanctioned Cuban entities, a date that marks the next pressure point in a negotiation whose outcome remains uncertain.
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