Cuba Confirms Talks with Trump

The statement said that the prisoner release was "in the spirit of goodwill, close and fluid relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican." 

The Vatican has a history of mediating negotiations between the two governments. 

The Catholic Church helped facilitate the secret negotiations that led to the historic opening with Cuba under the Obama administration.

Trump later reversed that deal, returning the United States to a Cold War–era policy of hostility.

In the final days of the Biden administration, the Catholic Church again helped broker the release of prisoners in Cuba ahead of Washington’s decision to ease its economic war on the island.

Biden's olive branch was short-lived. Trump reversed the move on his first day back in office.

According to Díaz-Canel, the recent discussions have been led by Raúl Castro and involve international actors as well.

Numerous reports in recent weeks indicated that the two governments were in talks. Trump has said repeatedly that a deal was in the works. 

"They want to make a deal, and so I am going to put Marco [Rubio] over there and we’ll see how that works out," Trump told CNN last week.

However, Trump also said his administration’s focus right now is Iran.

If “you do them all too fast, bad things happen,” said Trump. "We’ve got plenty of time."

The Cuban government had previously denied substantive negotiations between the two countries were taking place, though it had recently been silent on the issue.

Díaz-Canel said today an agreement is still distant and that talks were "in the initial stages.”

No Fuel for Three Months

Díaz-Canel also spoke about the electricity crisis directly caused by the Trump administration's oil blockade. He said no fuel has entered the country for the last three months, and that the country is now producing all of its thermoelectric power with domestically produced crude oil.

He said deeper blackouts are coming.

“Would a failed state be able to confront such a situation?” he asked rhetorically.

He thanked the “titans” who keep the country's aging power grid running, emphasizing that the government and its people would continue to “act with creative resistance.”

Most of Cuba was in the dark for several hours last week, after the island’s main power plant broke down. The plant was back online the following day and power gradually returned. 

Since 2024, Cuba has gone through three total blackouts, the longest of which lasted for days.

In recent months, rolling blackouts — the norm since 2020— have intensified since Trump announced the U.S. de facto oil blockade on the island. 

With China’s help, the island has turned to solar energy to reduce its dependence on fuel and power plants. Last month, Díaz-Canel said 38% of the island’s daylight consumption now comes from solar power.