Cuban Foreign Ministry officials said interactions with Washington were “respectful and professional” and there were no threats.
Published April 21, 2026
The Cuban government recently confirmed that it had met with U.S. officials in Havana, while tensions between the two countries remain high over Washington’s energy blockade of the Caribbean country.
Alejandro García del Toro, deputy director for U.S. affairs at Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Monday that the U.S. delegation includes an assistant secretary of state, and the Cuban delegation also includes representatives at the level of undersecretary of foreign affairs.
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García de Toro said the U.S. delegation did not issue any threats or deadlines, as some U.S. media reported.
“The entire interaction was conducted with respect and professionalism,” he said.
In comments reported by Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma, García del Toro stressed that ending the three-month US oil blockade is the Cuban government’s “top priority” in the negotiations and accused the United States of “blackmail” by threatening countries that export oil to Cuba with tariffs.
“This act of economic coercion is an unjust punishment for the entire Cuban people,” he said.
“This is also a form of global intimidation against a sovereign state that has every right to export fuel to Cuba in accordance with the principles of free trade,” he added.
US news agency Axios reported on Friday that officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration met multiple times in Havana on April 10 with Raul Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former President Raul Castro, and others. The meeting marked the first time American diplomats entered Cuba since 2016 in a new diplomatic push.
According to reports, U.S. officials have offered several conditions for continued negotiations with Cuba, including the release of prominent political prisoners, an end to political repression and the liberalization of Cuba’s struggling economy.
According to Reuters, the U.S. proposal to Cuba also includes allowing Elon Musk’s Starlink internet terminal into the country and compensating Americans and American companies for property confiscated in Cuba after the 1959 revolution. A US official told the news agency that Washington was also concerned about foreign influence on the island.
President Trump has threatened military intervention in Cuba and threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. The fuel blockade has exacerbated Cuba’s economic and energy crisis, leading to warnings of a humanitarian disaster.
Cubans are also bracing for a possible attack after President Trump repeatedly warned that “this country will be next” following the war against Iran and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January.
Last week, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his country was ready to fight if the United States followed through on its threats.
The leaders of Mexico, Spain and Brazil on Saturday expressed concern about the “dramatic situation” in Cuba and urged “honest and respectful dialogue.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday there is no clear justification for the United States to attack Cuba.
“The ability to defend oneself does not imply the right to intervene militarily in another country if that country’s political system does not match what that other country thinks it is,” he said.
