Posted on 05/14/2026 8:40:22 PM PDT by Red Badger
HAVANA (AP) — CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro’s grandson during a high-level visit to the island Thursday, Cuban and U.S. officials said.
Ratcliffe met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the AP.
Ratcliffe was there “to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes,’' the CIA official said.
An official statement from Cuba’s government noted that Thursday’s meeting “took place ... against a backdrop of complex bilateral relations.”
While the U.S. stressed that Cuba cannot continue to be a “safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere,” the Cuban delegation insisted that the island presents no threat to U.S. security. Cuban officials also took issue with the nation’s continued inclusion on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Rodríguez Castro previously secretly met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community summit in St. Kitts in February. While he’s never occupied a government post, he served as his grandfather’s bodyguard and later as head of Cuba’s equivalent of the Secret Service.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Ratcliffe is a smart guy. Solid, too.
My understanding is that Raul Castro’s grandson controls the entire Cuban tourist industry ie) all the state-run hotels, transport, foreign exchange restaurants, etc...
Anything that earns foreign exchange is in the hands of him and his cronies.
Does the US have a job for [returned Cuban defector]
Elián Gonzalez?
$$$$$
Headed to Havana
Exit strategy for elites
It’s coming
Jorge Mas Canosa wish you could have seen it mi hombre
And while you were, there is when your agents ransacked Tulsi’s office? What the hell is going on in Radcliffe?
My Cuban American friends are watching these developments with the anticipation that Cuba Libre’ will soon be a reality instead of merely the name for rum and Coke.
What was Ratcliffe’s role in removing those files from Tulsi Gabbard’s office?
Interesting since the Cubans are notorious for catering to the tastes of paedophile tourists from Europe.
Nobody trusts this guy anymore I can’t believe there are still Freepers in 2026 that still think he’s not a RAT. It’s in his name. Wake up.
Hubby read that Tulsi said there was no raid.
I’m confused.
"Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel."
I wonder how many, if any, changes will be made in the Cabinet and staff personnel once Daddy lands back on U.S. soil today.
(I’m still bummed that he continues to defend Curran and that they guy still has a job. WTF anyhow?)
My first thought was did he go to give him a gold phone, or to take it back?
Nobody “removed files from Tulsi’s office”.
Yes they did according to Tulsi’s spokesman.
Now go chase a bus, Fido.
I think I read some where he has become a communist.
I hope
I love my Cubans
Miami 88-94
Daughters born at Mercy
As a young man, he was definitely thrust high into the incompetent Communist regime; however, any changeover from freedom to Communist (and back) should resonate with the populace.
Who in the Western Hemisphere hasn’t heard of him?
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