Teresa Rodriguez, 58, looks at Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on state television, as Diaz-Canel said the country had opened negotiations with the U.S. government amid a severe economic crisis and the communist government was under increasing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, in Havana, Cuba, March 13, 2026.
Norlys Pérez | Reuters
The Cuban government held talks with Donald Trumpthe country’s administration, the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said on Friday.
This confirms speculation that the two countries were talking after US President Trump renewed his threat of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, saying the communist-ruled Caribbean island was in “deep trouble.”
“These conversations aim to find solutions, through dialogue, to the bilateral disputes that exist between the two nations,” Díaz-Canel said, according to a statement. job on social networks by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
“There are international factors that have facilitated these exchanges,” Diaz-Canel said.
The country is facing a worsening economic crisis. The United States has imposed an oil blockade on the island since January, shortly after its ally and main oil supplier, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was captured in an extraordinary military operation.
A massive power outage last week left millions of people on the island without electricity.
At a press conference on Friday, Díaz-Canel also warned that negotiations were “long processes” that require will and channels of dialogue, saying that “all this takes time”, according to CBS News.
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Trump recently publicly raised the possibility of Cuba being the subject of another major foreign policy move.
The US president said earlier this month that after the Iranian regime is toppled, “Cuba will fall too.” according to Politico.