(Corrects date of Cuban revolution in paragraph 2, also, clarifies Ratcliffe´s visit to the island was second by a CIA director, not the first.)
By Dave Sherwood and Jonathan Landay
HAVANA/WASHINGTON May 14 (Reuters) – CIA director John Ratcliffe on Thursday delivered a message from President Donald Trump to top Cuban officials in Havana that the U.S. would “seriously engage” with the island´s government on economic and security issues “only if it makes fundamental changes,” a CIA official told Reuters.
Ratcliffe’s trip appeared to be only the second visit by a CIA director to Cuba since former leader Fidel Castro´s 1959 revolution, underscoring a rare moment of high-level contact between the two countries.
The CIA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not elaborate on the specific changes that Trump was demanding.
The U.S. has for decades demanded Cuba open its state-run economy, pay reparations for properties expropriated by the Castro government and hold “free and fair” elections.
Ratcliffe arrived amid spiraling tensions between Washington and Havana.
Trump has increased pressure on Cuba, effectively imposing a fuel blockade on the island by threatening tariffs on countries supplying it with fuel, igniting seemingly endless power outages and delivering new blows to the island´s already ailing economy.
Widespread protests broke out across Havana on Wednesday evening as rolling blackouts in parts of the city stretched to 24 hours or more, threatening food supplies and making sleep difficult for many residents.
Cuba’s energy and mines minister said the country had run out of diesel and fuel oil, and that its power grid had entered a “critical” state.
The White House referred questions about Ratcliffe’s trip to the CIA.
Cuba first disclosed Ratcliffe’s visit in a statement saying he held talks with his Cuban counterpart at the Interior Ministry in Havana. It did not identify the officials he met.
“Both sides … underscored their interest in developing bilateral cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the interest of the security of both countries, as well as regional and international security,” the statement said.
Cuba’s representatives said the island does not pose a threat to U.S. national security, the statement said.
The statement was issued after a U.S. government plane was seen departing Havana’s international airport on Thursday afternoon, according to a Reuters witness.
The CIA official said the Cubans Ratcliffe met included Raulito Rodriguez Castro, Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of the island’s intelligence services.
Ratcliffe delivered “Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes,” the official said.
The sides also discussed “intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues, all against the backdrop that Cuba can no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere,” the official added.
The official did not identify the adversaries to which they referred.
Ratcliffe sought to initiate substantive talks on steps that Havana must take to build a productive relationship with Washington, said the official.
The official compared the opportunity for collaboration to Venezuela, where hostility has been replaced with tentative cooperation following a U.S. military operation in January that deposed president Nicolas Maduro, who was flown to the U.S. to face narcotics trafficking charges.
Maduro has pleaded innocent.
RARE OPENING
Cuba, the official said, has a rare opportunity to stabilize its flailing economy, but added that the chance to improve conditions for its nearly 10 million people will not last indefinitely.
Trump has threatened that Cuba “is next” after Venezuela.
Officials from both countries acknowledged earlier this year that they were in talks, but the negotiations appeared to founder amid the ongoing U.S. fuel blockade.
Ratcliffe visited Venezuela after the operation that deposed Maduro.
He held talks with interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Reuters previously reported, to discuss the Trump administration’s desire for cooperation.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood, Daina Beth Solomon; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis, Editing by Christian Plumb; Don Durfee and Sanjeev Miglani)
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