Cuba’s President Confirms U.S. Talks As Island’s Energy, Economic Crises Intensify

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba is in talks with the U.S. government, President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday. caribbean country Struggling with a serious energy crisis, it confirmed such speculations.

Díaz-Canel said that the talks “aim to find solutions to bilateral differences between the two countries through dialogue. International factors facilitate this exchange of ideas.” He did not elaborate on these factors or provide any details about the talks.

Asked for comment Friday, the White House pointed to public statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly touched on talks with Cuba and specifically encouraged the country to reach a deal to avoid a similar fate facing Venezuela.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his top aides met with the grandson of retired Cuban leader Raul Castro in the Caribbean at the end of February, two U.S. officials said Friday shortly after Díaz-Canel’s speech.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions, said Rubio was in St. He said he met secretly with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro on the sidelines of a meeting of Caribbean Community leaders in St. Kitts and Nevis.

At the time, Rubio refused to say he had spoken to anyone inside or close to the Cuban government.

Díaz-Canel said that the purpose of the talks with the United States is to identify “bilateral problems that require solutions according to their severity and impact” and find solutions.

He said the aim was to “determine the willingness of both parties to take concrete actions for the benefit of the people of both countries, as well as identify areas of cooperation to counter threats and guarantee the security and peace of both nations and the region.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no comment on Díaz-Canel’s comments.

Díaz-Canel said that no oil shipments had reached Cuba in the last three months and that Cuba was responsible for this. US energy blockade. He said the island is powered by natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric power plants, while depletion of fuel oil and diesel has forced two power plants to close and limited energy production at solar parks.

Western region of Cuba suffered a major power outage It left millions of consumers without power last week.

The President said that Cuba, which produces 40 percent of its oil, produces its own electricity, but it is not enough to meet demand. The lack of electricity affected communications, education and transportation, and as a result the government had to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of people, he said, adding: “The impact is huge.”

“Despite everything we’ve put together, we still need oil,” he said, adding that manufacturing output was also falling. “Without energy, no country can produce at normal levels. All this means adjustments in employment.”

Last month, Cuba implemented strict fuel-saving measures and converted more than 115 furnaces to run on firewood or coal.

“Cubans are desperate,” said Elvis Hernández, 62. “You can’t live without water and electricity. That’s why we want a consensus to be reached. If there are talks, let them be productive. Let them achieve something good through these talks.”

Miguel García, 65, welcomed news of negotiations with the US

“If all of this leads to agreements and solutions that will improve our lives, even better, because the situation is quite difficult right now,” he said.

The State Department has weighed the potential to reduce staff at the U.S. Embassy in Havana as fuel shortages caused by the U.S. blockade could impact daily diplomatic operations, according to U.S. officials.

Officials emphasized that there is still time to solve the problem and that the embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are looking at possible solutions.

Reducing staff at the embassy would likely lead to a request for a similar reduction in staff at the U.S. embassy in Cuba in Washington, officials said.

Brian Fonseca, who studies the Americas at Florida International University, said reducing the presence at the U.S. embassy at a time when Trump is pushing for dramatic change in the Cuban government would not be an ideal scenario.

“Diplomatic personnel are your eyes and ears in the field,” Fonseca said. “A downgrade scenario could complicate or complicate the U.S. understanding of what is happening on the ground.”

Critical oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba were stopped following the incident. USA attacked South American country and arrested then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Since then, the Trump administration has been warning Cuba of a similar fate.

Trump told a meeting of Latin American leaders in Florida last week that Cuba was “at the end of the line” and that he looked forward to the “major change” that would soon come to the island.

“They have no money, they have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that has been bad for a long time,” Trump said. “And they were getting the money from Venezuela. They were getting the oil from Venezuela, but they didn’t have any money from Venezuela.”

Responsible for the latest power outage a broken cauldron at a thermoelectric power plant, causing Cuba’s power grid to be shut down.

After his speech, Díaz-Canel took questions from a select group of government reporters.

The questions mostly focused on Cuba’s deepening crises, but a reporter asked about the recent crisis. Florida flagged boat hit In Cuban waters, four out of 10 Cubans from the United States were killed after the government accused them of opening fire on local troops.

A fifth suspect later died from his injuries, according to the Cuban government.

Díaz-Canel said FBI officials would visit Cuba as soon as possible as both countries continue to share information about the incident.

Five other suspects were detained and face terrorism charges.

Coto reported from San Jose, Costa Rica; Lee and Madhani from Washington. Ariel Fernández in Havana; Seung Min Kim in Washington; and María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.