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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, by its abbreviation in English) published this Thursday on its official account on X photographs of the meeting held in Havana between the agency's director, John Ratcliffe, and high-ranking officials from the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), an unusual gesture for an intelligence agency that rarely publicly documents its operations.
The images show a formal conference room with an oval table, microphones, red and white floral arrangements, and participants wearing simultaneous translation headsets. Some faces are deliberately blurred. A third photograph depicts the officials outside, in front of buildings with Havana-style architecture, alongside high-end white SUVs.
The Cuban government confirmed the visit through an official statement from the Communist Party of Cuba, indicating that it was requested by Washington and approved by the "Leadership of the Revolution." The Cuban counterpart was the MININT, led by Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas.
Among the identified Cuban participants is Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo," grandson of Raúl Castro, lieutenant colonel of MININT and head of the General Directorate of Personal Security. His presence at the meeting with Ratcliffe establishes him as a privileged interlocutor for the regime with Washington, as he is also said to have participated in the secret meeting on April 10.
The flight was identified as SAM554 (Special Air Mission), a designation reserved for high-level government missions of the United States, departing from Joint Base Andrews. Reuters captured on video the departure of the U.S. delegation from Cuba this Friday.
The regime's statement included a point that particularly caught attention: the explicit denial of the existence of foreign military or intelligence facilities on the island. "Once again, it has been made clear that the Island does not host, support, finance, or permit terrorist or extremist organizations; nor do foreign military or intelligence bases exist on its territory," the official text stated.
The statement contrasts with documented evidence. The Center for Strategic and International Studies identified at least 12 Chinese signal intelligence facilities in Cuba, with four main sites: Bejucal, El Wajay, Calabazar, and El Salao, the latter located just 70 miles from the Guantanamo Naval Base. The Biden administration confirmed their existence in June 2023, having been operational since at least 2019.
The Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed before Congress that Russian warships, including the submarine Kazán, have repeatedly used Cuban ports. At the end of April, Marco Rubio accused Cuba of harboring Chinese intelligence, warning that "we will not allow any foreign military, intelligence, or security apparatus to operate with impunity just 90 miles from the shores of the United States."
The visit of Ratcliffe marks the second high-level contact between Washington and Havana in less than six weeks. The first took place on April 10, when a delegation from the State Department landed in Cuba — the first official U.S. flight since 2016 — to discuss the release of political prisoners, access to internet via Starlink, and the presence of foreign groups on the island.
The lingering question is whether the CIA accepted the regime's version regarding the absence of foreign facilities, or if that point will remain the main obstacle to any agreement that involves removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, where it was re-added by the Trump administration in February 2025.
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