Overview
- Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, in a Wednesday interview on Spain’s Canal Red, confirmed early-stage contacts with Washington and said the process will move step by step.
- He said Cuba can discuss U.S. participation in the island’s economy and topics such as foreign investment, migration, crime and terrorism, environmental protection, and scientific and educational ties, while ruling out any talk of sovereignty or the political system.
- He blamed prolonged nationwide blackouts on what he called a U.S. oil blockade and said the island has not received fuel for about three months.
- The United Nations’ representative in Cuba warned of rising humanitarian risks if fuel runs out, urging steps to secure supplies, expand solar power, and protect services like hospitals and water.
- Díaz-Canel framed the outreach as dialogue rather than confrontation, noted Raúl Castro remains closely engaged, and set it against years of tighter U.S. sanctions under President Trump after the 1961 embargo and a brief thaw in 2014.