Cuba Opens Talks With United States, Díaz-Canel Confirms

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed on Friday that his government has opened talks with the United States, ending months of official silence about negotiations that both sides had previously declined to acknowledge publicly.

"These conversations are focused on finding solutions to bilateral differences we have between the two nations through dialogue," Díaz-Canel said in a video aired on Cuban state television, shortly before addressing the country's press corps. He described the talks as being conducted on the basis of respect and in the spirit of sovereignty and self-determination, and cautioned that they have reached "initial phases only."

The announcement came as Cuba enters its third consecutive month without an oil shipment. Díaz-Canel said the last delivery arrived in December, before a U.S. military raid captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3. The Trump administration subsequently cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened tariffs against any country that sells oil to the island, leaving Cuba, which depends heavily on Venezuela and Mexico for fuel, in an acute energy emergency.

The human cost has been considerable. Díaz-Canel said the impact of the energy blockade has been "tremendous," with rolling blackouts disrupting communications, education, transportation and health services across the island. Tens of thousands of medical surgeries have had to be postponed. Bakeries, unable to power conventional equipment, have turned to wood and coal-burning ovens.

Díaz-Canel said he directed the Cuban side of the talks together with former President Raúl Castro and other senior Communist Party and government officials. He did not identify who participated for the United States. The U.S. State Department declined to comment on his remarks. Notably visible during the televised address was Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Raúl Castro's grandson, who was seated prominently behind Díaz-Canel next to the country's deputy prime minister. Rodríguez Castro holds no official government position but is believed to be close to his 94-year-old grandfather, who remains the most influential figure in Cuba. Multiple media reports had previously linked Rodríguez Castro to back-channel discussions with U.S. officials.

Ahead of Friday's announcement, Cuba signaled additional goodwill through its Foreign Ministry, which issued a press release Thursday night stating that 51 prisoners would be released in the coming days. The ministry cited the country's relationship with the Vatican and described the move as being made "in the spirit of goodwill." The prisoners had served significant portions of their sentences and maintained good conduct, the ministry said; no names were released. USA Today characterized the release as part of a deal brokered by the Vatican.

President Donald Trump had publicly claimed for several weeks that U.S. and Cuban representatives were engaged in high-level conversations, while Havana had neither confirmed nor explicitly denied those claims. On Friday morning, Trump amplified the development by posting a news headline on his Truth Social account reading: "Cuba confirms talks with Trump officials, raising hopes for U.S. deal." He has previously said a deal would be "very easily made" and warned that Cuba may face "a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover."

John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, described the Trump White House as pursuing a "two-track" approach to engaging Havana. Cuban Ambassador to the United States Lianys Torres Rivera told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that her government was "ready to engage with the U.S. on the issues that are important for the bilateral relations."

Friday's address was framed as a follow-up to a February 5 appearance in which Díaz-Canel warned that Cuba was approaching a situation requiring "extreme measures." With no named U.S. interlocutors, no confirmed timeline, and a State Department offering no response, the scope of what these initial phases might produce remains an open question.