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The United States is not looking astatine imminent subject enactment against Havana contempt President Donald Trump's repeated threats that "Cuba is next" and that American warships deployed successful the West Asia for the Iran struggle could instrumentality by mode of the island, US officials say.
The officials progressive successful preliminary discussions with Cuban authorities besides told The Associated Press that they are not optimistic the communist authorities volition judge an connection for tens of millions of dollars successful humanitarian aid, 2 years of escaped Starlink net entree for each Cubans, cultivation assistance and infrastructure support.
But they accidental Cuba has not yet outright refused the offer, which comes with conditions that the authorities has agelong resisted, adjacent aft the Trump medication imposed caller sanctions Thursday (May 7, 2026) connected Havana.
The officials, who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon the backstage talks, accidental determination is inactive clip for the authorities to accept. They cautioned, though, that Mr. Trump could alteration his caput astatine immoderate clip and that subject options are inactive connected the table.
The Treasury and State departments announced those sanctions aft Mr. Trump signed an enforcement bid past week expanding the administration's authorization to enforce penalties connected Cuba.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described the measures arsenic "collective punishment" and denounced the U.S. government's "genocidal intent against Cuba".
"These actions trust connected the presumption that the United States tin enforce its volition connected the satellite portion threatening overseas citizens and businesses with illegitimate coercion," Mr. Rodríguez wrote connected X.
Shortly aft signing the bid connected Friday (May 1, 2026), Mr. Trump gave a code mentioning that "Cuba's got problems" and suggesting that a subject amusement of unit determination whitethorn beryllium successful the offing.
He said 1 of the U.S. craft carriers connected its mode backmost from the West Asia could "come in, halt astir 100 yards offshore, and they'll say: Thank you precise much. We springiness up".
One authoritative progressive successful the discussions said the caller sanctions authorization was intended, however, to marque wide to the Cubans that the Trump administration's contiguous extremity is "not authorities change, but changing the regime's failed policies".
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lad of Cuban immigrants who has agelong taken a hard enactment against Cuba's leadership, has said repeatedly that the country's authorities has failed. He said this week that Cuba's economical exemplary doesn't enactment and those successful powerfulness "can't hole it".
"And the crushed that they can't hole it is not conscionable due to the fact that they're communist. That's atrocious enough," helium told reporters Tuesday astatine the White House. "But they're incompetent communists. The lone happening worse than a communist is an incompetent one." Mr. Rubio is visiting Rome and Vatican City, gathering Pope Leo XIV connected Thursday (May 7, 2026) successful portion to sermon Cuba, wherever the Catholic Church has important influence.
One U.S. authoritative said it is an unfastened question arsenic to whether Cuba's apical enactment is consenting to conscionable US conditions, which see the merchandise of governmental prisoners, an extremity to governmental and spiritual repression, and an opening to American backstage assemblage investment.
At the aforesaid time, the authoritative said the doorway has not closed to dialog that could assistance some countries fixed Cuba's proximity to the U.S. The United States sees a nationalist information menace successful what the authoritative called expanding power connected the land by China and Russia, including quality and logistics cooperation.
Cuban officials are adamant, though, that its interior governance is not up for negotiation.
"Negotiations connected issues similar authorities alteration oregon removing the president are retired of the question," Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations Ernesto Soberón Guzmán told reporters past week. "No interior affairs of Cuba are connected the table." Mr. Guzmán besides told The Associated Press past period that Havana volition not abide by immoderate American "ultimatums" to merchandise governmental prisoners and that Cuba's leaders are "preparing for each scenarios" if Trump makes bully connected threats to intervene.
The White House didn't instantly respond to a petition for remark astir subject enactment successful Cuba.
Contacts betwixt the Trump medication and Cuba person increased, including a gathering earlier this twelvemonth successful the Caribbean federation of St. Kitts and Nevis betwixt Rubio and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who is believed to transportation important power successful Havana. He is the grandson of erstwhile Cuban person Raúl Castro.
More recently, 2 elder State Department officials — Jeremy Lewin, who is successful complaint of each US overseas assistance, and Michael Kozak, the apical U.S. diplomat for Latin America — led a delegation to Havana connected April 10 and met with the grandson, according to 1 US authoritative acquainted with the meetings.
The apical State Department participants had not been antecedently reported. It was the archetypal U.S. authorities formation to onshore successful Cuba different than astatine the U.S. Naval Base astatine Guantanamo Bay since 2016, during erstwhile President Barack Obama's play of rapprochement with the island.
That gathering was "professional and cordial" but did not nutrient definitive results, leaving the US delegation skeptical that the Cuban enactment is consenting to see adjacent humble reforms that could ameliorate deteriorating humanitarian conditions, that authoritative said.
U.S. officials person often rejected Cuban complaints that the American embargo connected the land and, much recently, the Trump administration's vigor blockade are liable for the country's hardships.
But Cuba's crises person deepened pursuing the vigor blockade, imposed aft the US successful January removed Nicolás Maduro arsenic person of Venezuela, which was Cuba's main root of energy.
Cuban officials person denounced the U.S. rejection of their complaints.
"Travelling 4,500 miles to conscionable with the Pope, supposedly to petition his bully offices' successful delivering US humanitarian assistance to the Cuban radical done the Church, portion astatine the aforesaid clip claiming that the blockade does not exist, is simply a blatant insult to quality intelligence," Guzmán said Thursday successful a statement.
