LIMA, Peru – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held secret conversations with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro, known as “El Cangrejo”, outside the official channels of the Cuban regime.
A report from the American media Axios points out that Donald Trump’s administration considers that, despite not holding formal positions, Raúl Castro continues to be the figure with the greatest decision-making power on the Island. A senior US official stated that these are not formal negotiations, “but ‘discussions’ about the future” of Cuba.
Rubio and his team see “El Cangrejo” and his entourage as representatives of a younger, business-minded generation, open to a possible rapprochement with the United States.
“Our position – the position of the US Government – is that the regime has to go (…) but what exactly that will look like depends on President Trump and he has not yet decided. Rubio is still in talks with his grandson,” the senior official assured Axios.
The conversations with “El Cangrejo” have been described by the source as “surprisingly” friendly and are seen as strategic, since he is considered an influential figure close to the country’s economic and military power, especially the GAESA conglomerate.
Although Washington maintains the position that the dictatorship must disappear, it is not yet clear how that change would occur. Besides of Raúl Castro’s grandsonWashington has also communicated with other influential Cubans within the regime’s leadership.
Last Monday, Trump reaffirmed that his administration is holding talks with the Cuban regime and highlighted that the island is currently “a failed nation.”
“We are talking to Cuba right now. I have Secretary (of State) Rubio talking to Cuba right now, and they should reach an agreement without a doubt because it is a real humanitarian threat,” said the North American president. to the press.
Trump assured that there were many “wonderful Cuban Americans” in the United States who would be happy to return and greet their families on the island without problems, something that should have been a reality a long time ago.
“We will see how everything turns out, but Cuba and we are talking. Meanwhile there is an embargo, there is no oil, there is no money, there is nothing,” the president reaffirmed.
The US president refused to give details about a possible operation in Cuba, similar to that in Venezuela, in the event that diplomatic negotiations fail.
“I don’t want to answer that. Why would I answer? If I did, it wouldn’t be as difficult an operation as you can imagine. I don’t think that’s necessary,” Trump said.
