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The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, visited Cuba this Thursday to meet with high-ranking officials of the regime, in one of the most unusual visits by a senior U.S. intelligence official to the island, as confirmed by two CIA officials to Axios and .
Ratcliffe sat across from Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo" or "Raulito," the grandson of Raúl Castro and a lieutenant colonel in the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), as well as with the Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services.
The Cuban government itself was the first to reveal the meeting, describing it as "part of the efforts to address the current situation."
The message that Ratcliffe brought to Havana was from President Donald Trump: The United States is ready to engage seriously on economic and security issues, "but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes," including ceasing to be a refuge for adversaries of Washington in the Western Hemisphere.
"During the meeting, Director Ratcliffe and Cuban officials discussed cooperation in intelligence, economic stability, and security matters, all against the backdrop of Cuba no longer being able to serve as a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere," noted a CIA official.
Ratcliffe also urged Cuban officials to take note of the operation on January 3, 2026, which ousted Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela—when Washington took control of Venezuelan oil exports, which Cuba critically depended on—as proof that Trump must be taken seriously.
The visit comes at the worst time of the Cuban energy crisis in years. The Minister of Energy, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted on Wednesday that Cuba "absolutely has no fuel or diesel" and that power outages could exceed 20-22 hours daily.
The night before Ratcliffe's visit, massive protests erupted in Havana, with loud saucepan demonstrations and power outages lasting up to 24 consecutive hours, threatening frozen food supplies and keeping thousands of residents awake.
"They have no fuel. They have no money. They have no one to come and rescue them. The regime has been stubborn since 1959, but even they realize that it's time for a change," stated a senior official from the Trump administration.
The meeting with "El Cangrejo" is not the first. Marco Rubio began secret conversations with him in February 2026 in Saint Kitts and Nevis, bypassing the official channels of Díaz-Canel, and a delegation from the State Department formally met with him in Havana on April 10, 2026.
This same Thursday, alongside Ratcliffe's visit, political prisoner Sissi Abascal Zamora was released. The 27-year-old Dama de Blanco was sentenced to six years in prison for the protests on July 11, who traveled to Miami with a humanitarian visa from the Department of State, signaling that the regime is seeking to ease U.S. pressure.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said that Havana is considering the offer of 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid presented in writing on Wednesday by the State Department, conditional on significant reforms and to be distributed through the Catholic Church and other independent organizations.
A CIA official warned that the window of opportunity for dialogue "will not remain open indefinitely" and that Trump will find another way to "enforce his red lines" if the talks do not progress.
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