CIA Director John Ratcliffe led a US delegation to Havana to meet with Cuban government officials on Thursday as the island grapples with a collapse of its energy sector amid spiraling relations with the US.
“Following the request submitted by the US government that a delegation presided over by the CIA Director John Ratcliffe be received in Havana, the Revolutionary Directorate approved the realization of this visit and the meeting with its counterpart from the Ministry of the Interior,” read a statement from the Cuban government.
The meeting with the head of the CIA, the same agency Cuba has long accused of sabotaging its revolution, comes as tensions between the Cold War-era foes have risen to the highest point in decades.
Havana said its officials stressed in the meeting that Cuba “does not constitute a threat to the national security of the US” and that there are no “legitimate reasons” to include it on the US’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, as it has been under the Trump administration. They also insisted the country does not harbor, support or fund terrorists – something the US has long accused it of doing – and denied hosting foreign military or intelligence bases.
Two sources confirmed to CNN that the CIA director made the trip.
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