CIA Director John Ratcliffe makes rare trip to Cuba as island faces energy crisis
The meeting came as Cuba is contending with a massive power failure to its national energy grid amid U.S. sanctions that have caused an oil and gas shortage crisis.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana, Cuba, on Thursday for a rare meeting with senior Cuban officials, an agency official told CBS News, using the visit to deliver a message that the U.S. was prepared to expand economic and security engagement with Cuba if Havana "makes fundamental changes."
Ratcliffe met with Raúl Rodriguez Castro — the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro.
Multiple U.S. officials later confirmed to CBS News Thursday that the U.S. is taking steps to indict the 94-year-old Raúl Castro in connection with Cuba's deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. Raúl Castro is the brother of Fidel Castro.
Also in Thursday's meeting were Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuba's intelligence services, the CIA official said, adding the group "discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues, all against the backdrop that Cuba can no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere."
Ratcliffe told Cuban leaders the administration was offering "a genuine opportunity for collaboration" and a chance to stabilize Cuba's struggling economy, while cautioning that the opportunity would not remain open indefinitely and the administration would enforce "red lines" if necessary, the official said.