Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed active Washington dialogue as island faces crippling fuel shortages and domestic energy failure
Cuba reports deadly shootout with US-registered boat from Florida
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., addresses Cuba’s claim of a deadly shootout with a U.S.-registered speedboat, killing four.
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The Cuban government is in talks with Trump administration officials, the country’s president said Friday, as Havana works to halt a potential regime change as it deals with a widening energy crisis.
In a 90-minute news conference broadcast by state media, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said talks with Washington were aimed at finding solutions to the political differences that divide the communist island and the United States, The New York Times reported.
However, changes to Cuba’s political system are off limits, Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba’s chief of mission in the United States, told Politico in an interview.
MILLIONS LOSE POWER ACROSS CUBA AS TRUMP SANCTIONS CONTINUE TO FUEL ONGOING ENERGY CRISIS
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel smokes a cigar during a humidor auction held as part of the closing ceremony of the XXV Habanos Festival in Havana Feb. 28, 2025. (Getty Images; AP Photo)
Cuba’s economy has struggled since the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his home in Caracas at the start of the year. The Trump administration immediately cut off oil exports to the island.
A number of key sectors across the island are under considerable strain, including its transportation, health and education systems, Torres Rivera said. She noted that as many as 11,000 children are on waiting lists for surgeries and procedures at health clinics.
“They have no money. They have no anything right now,” President Donald Trump said in February. “Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Trump has said a deal with Havana “would be very easily made.”
In January, Trump declared a national emergency via an executive order over Cuba, accusing the communist regime of aligning with hostile foreign powers and terrorist groups.
A woman holds a sign and Cuban flags as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump participate in a protest against Cuba’s government in Miami Feb. 28, 2026. (Marco Bello/Reuters)
Last week, he said Cuba was “negotiating with [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] and myself and some others. And I would think a deal would be made very easily with Cuba.”
Trump has charged Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and someone who has actively championed regime change, with negotiations with Cuba.
Friday was the first time the Cuban government formally acknowledged talks with Washington.
Amid talks, Rubio’s main counterpart has been Raúl Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of Raul Castro, the island’s de facto leader and its former president.
Díaz-Canel said the talks with the United States were needed, in part, “to determine the willingness of both sides to take concrete actions,” the Times reported.
He added that he would soon welcome an FBI team to take part in the investigation into 10 Cubans who lived in the United States who got into a firefight with the Cuban coast guard last month.
A woman wearing a T-shirt with the United States flag sells Coquito in a street in Havana March 13, 2026. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Agendas are built, negotiations and conversations take place and agreements are reached. Things we are still far from because we are in the initial phases of this process,” Díaz-Canel said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.
Cuba Pledges to Release 51 Prisoners Amid U.S. Pressure
The Trump administration has been trying to choke the Cuban government through an oil blockade. The prisoner release appears to be an effort to appease Washington.
By Jack NicasEmiliano Rodríguez Mega and Frances Robles
Jack Nicas and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega reported from Mexico City. Frances Robles reported from Florida.
The Cuban government said on Thursday that it was planning to release 51 prisoners in the coming days “in the spirit of good will and close, fluid relations with the Vatican,” which has been trying to broker talks between Cuba and the United States amid the increasingly tense standoff between the two nations.
The move appears to be an effort to appease the Trump administration, which has established what is effectively an oil blockade around the island, causing severe fuel shortages and electricity outages and pushing the nation toward a humanitarian crisis.
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made clear that they would like to see major changes in Cuba soon, including a new government. Mr. Rubio has spoken about a potential deal with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former Cuban leader who is Fidel Castro’s brother and is still widely viewed as the country’s most powerful figure, The New York Times reported last month.
There have been signs that the Cuban government is seeking a way out of the crisis, including by recently approving some private companies to import oil. But U.S. officials have signaled that any deal would require far more significant reforms.
Cubans will be watching for that on Thursday morning. Shortly before announcing the prisoner release, the Cuban government said that President Miguel Díaz-Canel would address the nation at 7:30 a.m. local time Thursday.
Cuba did not name the 51 prisoners or disclose their accused crimes, only noting that they were nearing the end of their sentences. Prisoners Defenders, a human rights group, said there were more than 1,200 political prisoners on the island as of February of this year.
Cuban authorities have long surveilled, intimidated and detained critics, journalists and opposition figures — a way to punish and deter any kind of dissent, experts say. Political prisoners have been denied medical care and held in overcrowded facilities without adequate access to food and water, according to a report by Human Rights Watch published earlier this year.
The Cuban government has announced large releases of detainees before, often tied to diplomatic events.
In 2015, after the Obama administration announced a historic thaw of U.S.-Cuba relations, the government released 53 prisoners, including Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer. He was arrested again years later after joining mass anti-government protests.
Cuba also freed more than 3,500 people ahead of Pope Francis’s visit to the island in 2015, although dissidents said no political prisoners were among them.
And early last year, officials announced the release of 553 prisoners, following negotiations between the Cuban government and the Vatican. Mr. Ferrer was among those released, of which he said nearly half were not political prisoners, because of a formal request from the U.S. government. He left the island for exile in the United States.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said this week that the Catholic Church had spoken to Cuba’s foreign minister and “taken the necessary steps” to promote a “dialogue-based solution” in the country.
President Trump’s pressure campaign began with the U.S. takeover of Venezuela’s oil, which was once a lifeline for Cuba. Then he threatened other nations with tariffs if they sent oil to the island. And the U.S. military then intercepted a Cuba-bound tanker full of oil.
That effective blockade has created one of the most dire situations in the country in years. The power grid is now failing in some areas almost every day, gas stations are running out of fuel, and people are cooking with charcoal and firewood because of a lack of gas. United Nations officials have condemned the blockade and said they are trying to negotiate with the United States to allow some fuel shipments to Cuba for humanitarian purposes.
The Cuban government said Thursday that it had released nearly 20,000 prisoners since 2010, saying it is “a common practice in our criminal justice system and reflects the humanitarian path of the revolution,” referring to the Cuban political movement started by Fidel Castro.
Critics have pointed to previous mass releases as tools that the Cuban government uses to soften international criticism, signal a willingness to negotiate or simply buy time — not as a sign of true political change.
“I see a regime liberating 51 people who had completed their sentences or were about to complete their sentences so that they can gain some advantage and applause,” Mr. Ferrer said in an interview on Thursday. “Their backs are up against the wall, because the United States is pressuring like never before.”
A correction was made on
:
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Vatican was mediating formal talks between the United States and Cuba. It is not, the Vatican’s secretary of state said it was promoting a “dialogue-based solution” and did not mention the United States.
When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at corrections@nytimes.com.Learn more
Jack Nicas is The Times’s Mexico City bureau chief, leading coverage of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Mexico City, covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Frances Robles is a Times reporter covering Latin America and the Caribbean. She has reported on the region for more than 25 years.
Cuban president confirms US talks as island’s energy and economic crises intensify
MILEXSY DURÁN, DÁNICA COTO, MATTHEW LEE and AAMER MADHANI, Associated PressUpdated: Mar 13, 2026 / 06:01 PM CDT
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has held talks with the U.S. government, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday, marking the first time the Caribbean country has confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration as it grapples with a severe energy crisis.
Díaz-Canel said the talks “were aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between our two nations. International factors facilitated these exchanges.” He did not elaborate on those factors, or provide any specifics about the talks, which U.S. President Donald Trump has alluded to in the past.
Cuba’s relations with the U.S. have been fraught for decades and punctuated by animosity, with the exception of a brief rapprochement during former President Barack Obama’s second term.
Asked for comment on Friday, the White House pointed to Trump’s public comments about discussions with Cuba that he said were being led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and intended to press major changes in Cuban policies and governance.
Trump has suggested that top Cuban leaders would be smart to avoid the fate of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was ousted and arrested in a U.S. military operation in January.
Shortly after Díaz-Canel spoke, two U.S. officials said that Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuba hawk, and top aides met at the end of February in the Caribbean with the grandson of retired Cuban leader Raúl Castro, who is believed to play an influential role in the government despite not holding an official post.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said that Rubio had met secretly with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community leaders meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis on Feb. 25.
At the time, Rubio refused to say who, if anyone, he was speaking with in or close to the Cuban government.
Díaz-Canel said that the purpose of the talks with the U.S. was to identify “bilateral problems that require solutions based on their severity and impact” and find solutions to them.
He said that the aim was “to determine the willingness of both parties to take concrete actions for the benefit of the people of both countries. And in addition, to identify areas of cooperation to confront threats and guarantee the security and peace of both nations, as well as in the region.”
‘Impact is tremendous’
Díaz-Canel said that no petroleum shipments have arrived in Cuba in the past three months, which he blamed on a U.S. energy blockade. He said the island is running on natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants, and that the depletion of fuel oil and diesel forced two power plants to shut down and has limited the generation of power at solar parks.
The most recent blackout was blamed on a broken boiler at a thermoelectric plant that forced the shutdown of Cuba’s power grid.
The president said that Cuba, which produces 40% of its petroleum, has been generating its own power, but that it hasn’t been sufficient to meet demand. The lack of power has affected communications, education and transportation, and the government has had to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of people as a result, he said, adding: “The impact is tremendous.”
“Even with everything we’re putting together, we still need oil,” he said, adding that production output also has dropped. “Without energy, no country can produce at normal levels. All of this has meant making adjustments to employment.”
Last month, Cuba implemented austere fuel-saving measures and has converted more than 115 bakeries to run on firewood or coal.
“Cubans are desperate,” said Elvis Hernández, 62. “You can’t live without water or electricity. That’s why we want a consensus to be reached. If there are talks, let them be productive. Let them achieve something good through those conversations.”
Miguel García, 65, welcomed the news of talks with the U.S.
“If all of this leads to agreements and solutions that will improve our lives, then all the better, because the situation is quite difficult right now,” he said.
Staffing of embassy in Havana
The U.S. State Department has weighed potentially drawing down staffing at the U.S. Embassy in Havana as the fuel shortages caused by the American blockade could affect day-to-day diplomatic operations, according to three U.S. officials.
The officials stressed that there is still time to solve the problem and that the embassy and the State Department were looking at potential solutions, including possibly importing fuel from private sources if the Cubans allow it.
A reduction in staffing at the embassy in Havana would likely lead to a U.S. demand for a similar reduction in staffing at the Cuban embassy in Washington, the officials said.
Brian Fonseca, who studies the Americas at Florida International University, said that a reduced presence at the U.S. embassy would be a less than ideal scenario at a moment when Trump is pressing for dramatic change in the Cuban government.
“The diplomatic staff are your eyes and ears on the ground,” Fonseca said. “A downgrading scenario could complicate or challenge U.S. understanding of what’s going on, on the ground.”
Trump’s warning
Critical oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country and arrested Maduro.
Since then, the Trump administration has been warning Cuba of a similar fate.
Trump told a gathering of Latin America leaders in Florida last week that Cuba is “very much at the end of the line” and that he was looking forward to “great change” coming soon to the island.
Díaz-Canel also said Friday that FBI officials would visit Cuba as soon as both countries continue to share information about the recent shooting of a Florida-flagged boat in Cuban waters. Four of 10 Cubans from the U.S. were killed after the government accused them of opening fire on local troops.
A fifth suspect later died from his injuries, according to the Cuban government. The five other suspects have been detained and face terrorism charges.
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Coto reported from San Jose, Costa Rica; Lee and Madhani from Washington. Ariel Fernández, in Havana, Seung Min Kim, in Washington, and María Verza, in Mexico City, contributed to this report.
