Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced that Cuban representatives had begun negotiations with the American authorities. He made the announcement in a televised press conference, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 13.
According to the president, Cuban officials held talks “to find, through dialogue, a possible solution to the existing bilateral differences between our two countries.”
A few hours before the president’s speech, the Cuban Foreign Ministry announced that the authorities would release 51 prisoners through the mediation of the Vatican. It was not determined whether these were ordinary or political prisoners.
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump said that the United States might carry out a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, and suggested that the Cuban government “will fall soon.”
As the Wall Street Journal wrote, the Trump administration was looking for agents in the Cuban government to change power in the country by the end of 2026. At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was negotiating with Raul Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raul Castro. books Axios.
The Trump administration blocked oil supplies to Cuba after US special forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January. US actions exacerbated the blackouts and further undermined the Cuban economy.