MIAMI, United States. – The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Friday that his administration could end up promoting what he described as a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, after ensuring that the Island’s Government is “talking” with Washington while it is going through a critical economic situation.
Trump made these statements to reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Texas, according to a Reuters dispatch.
According to that news agency, Trump stated: “The Cuban government is talking to us, and it is in serious trouble.” Then he added: “[Las autoridades cubanas] They don’t have money. They have nothing now, but they are talking to us and maybe we will take Cuba in a friendly way.”
In the same exchange with the press, the president linked the handling of the issue to his Secretary of State, the Cuban-American Marco Rubio, whom he described as involved “at a very high level.”
This Thursday it also emerged that advisors close to Rubio had met the day before with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro, within the framework of the annual summit of Caribbean leaders (CARICOM), held in Basseterre, capital of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The news was confirmed by The New Herald and by the Spanish news agency EFE.
According to the Miami-based newspaper, Several sources with knowledge of the meeting – who requested anonymity because they were delicate negotiations – indicated that Rodríguez Castro, popularly known as El Cangrejo, met with one of Rubio’s advisors at a hotel near where the 50th regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM was taking place.
The Herald He noted that it was not clear if Rubio met personally with Rodríguez Castro, although he interpreted that his team’s contact with Raúl Castro’s grandson would confirm that President Donald Trump’s Administration sees him as a key actor in Washington’s efforts to promote reforms on the Island.
The report acknowledged that Rodríguez Castro does not hold an official position in the Cuban Government or the Communist Party, but described him as Raúl Castro’s closest collaborator and bodyguard. He added that he is credited with influencing GAESAthe business conglomerate of the Armed Forces that controls a good part of the country’s economy.
According to the report signed by Cuban journalist Nora Gámez, Rodríguez Castro arrived in Saint Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday accompanied by a Cuban protocol officer and left the Caribbean country that same day.
Rubio, for his part, arrived on the island early on Wednesday after attending President Trump’s State of the Union address the night before, and held his first meeting with Caribbean leaders shortly before 12:30 p.m.
The core of Wednesday’s talks between U.S. officials and Castro’s grandson, some sources told The Heraldwas the possibility of gradually easing US sanctions in exchange for Cuban leaders implementing changes “month by month.” In addition, the media indicated that a more formal meeting between officials of the Cuban Government and the State Department was expected on Thursday, according to the sources consulted.
Previously, on February 19, the permanent representative of the Cuban Government to the UN, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, described as “speculation” the information about alleged contacts between Rubio and Rodríguez Castro, and assured that Havana was guided by “public and verifiable facts.” According to the American portal Axiosat that time the Secretary of State would have held “secret conversations” with El Cangrejo in the context of increased pressure from Washington on the Island.
