Sawt Falasteen - CIA director visits Cuba as island runs out of oil

The visit comes at a low moment in US-Cuba relations, after Washington imposed a fuel blockade on its neighbor in January and President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the island and mused about taking it over.

The meeting with Ratcliffe took place "in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the aim of contributing to the political dialogue between both nations," a government statement read.

The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The exchanges "made it possible to demonstrate categorically that Cuba does not constitute a threat to US national security, nor are there any legitimate reasons to include it on the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism," the Cuban statement added.

Cuba "has never supported any hostile activity against the United States, nor will it permit actions against any other nation to be carried out from Cuba," it emphasized, referring to allegations of a Chinese presence.

- No more oil -

The island's energy crisis has deepened since the US fuel blockade began, with only one Russian oil tanker making it through since then.

But those oil reserves have now "run out," Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television, describing the situation as "very tense."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has renewed an offer of $100 million in aid on the condition that the assistance be distributed by the Catholic Church, bypassing the government.

In a post on X, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel urged the United States to instead lift its blockade.

"The damage could be eased in a much simpler and faster way by lifting or relaxing the blockade, since it is known that the humanitarian situation is coldly calculated and induced," he said.

But, if Washington showed "true willingness" to provide aid, he added, "it will encounter no obstacles or ingratitude from Cuba."

Despite tensions, intergovernmental talks are ongoing, with a high-level diplomatic meeting taking place in Havana on April 10 -- the first time a US government plane landed in the Cuban capital since 2016.

- 'Turn on the lights!' -

Eastern Cuba was Thursday plunged into the latest outage affecting the whole country, with power returning to some areas later in the day.

The crisis prompted protests on the island.

A resident of San Miguel del Padron, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, told AFP that people had protested by banging pots and pans on Wednesday evening.

Several other similar small demonstrations were held in neighborhoods across the capital, according to accounts gathered by AFP.

"Turn on the lights!" shouted residents in Playa, in the western part of the city.

Data compiled by AFP showed prolonged blackouts and record generation shortfalls in recent days -- 65 percent of Cuban territory endured simultaneous blackouts on Tuesday.

"It's a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it's impossible to change it. I wish it were different," Rubio told Fox News.

"I don't think we're going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge."

H.Darwish--SF-PST