A top Cuban official dismissed a recent report claiming that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is holding talks with the grandson of Raul Castro about the “future” of the island.
Speaking to Spanish news agency EFE, the country’s permanent representative to the UN, Ernesto Soberon Guzman, said the report appears to be “speculation” and he bases himself on “public and verifiable facts.”
The report in question, published by Axios this week, detailed that the talks with 41-year-old Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro are bypassing official channels and show that the Trump administration believes his grandfather is the decision maker in the country.
Rodriguez Castro is also seen as someone who represents a more business-oriented part of the regime who believe communism has failed and believe a rapprochement with the U.S. could be valuable.
“I wouldn’t call these ‘negotiations’ as much as ‘discussions’ about the future,” an official told the outlet. “The U.S. government’s position — is the regime has to go,” the official added. However, “what exactly that looks like is up to (President Donald Trump) and and he has yet to decide, and Rubio is still in talks with the grandson.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Soberon Guzman refrained from discussing specific conversations that could lead the U.S. to end its fuel blockade, saying that Cuba is “open to dialogue on a base of mutual respect, equal conditions, respect for sovereignty, respect for its independence and non-interference in internal affairs.”
He went on to say that any talks will need to take place “without additional pressure” and noted that Havana won’t accept external conditions. “We don’t impose conditions on anyone, but don’t accept them to be imposed on us either.”
In the meantime, Cuba continues to endure severe fuel shortages. A recent report detailed that drivers across the country are facing waits of weeks or months to refuel.
To manage demand and prevent long lines at service stations, authorities recently made it mandatory for motorists to use a state-run mobile app called Ticket to schedule refueling appointments. Drivers in Havana told AP that the system is assigning dates far into the future, sometimes with thousands of requests ahead in the queue.
The shortages have intensified as Cuba struggles to secure imported oil for power plants and refineries. President Miguel Díaz-Canel has accused Washington of imposing an “energy blockade,” while U.S. officials have threatened tariffs on countries supplying oil to the island. Venezuela halted crude shipments to Cuba in January after the capture of its former president, and Mexico has also paused deliveries following the U.S. warning.
Originally published on Latin Times
