The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, has met Cuban government representatives in Havana, according to officials in Cuba.
The meeting with senior Interior Ministry officials took place at the request of the US government, the Cuban government said on Thursday. Havana said the visit was aimed at promoting political dialogue between the two countries against the backdrop of "complex" bilateral relations.
According to the Cuban government, its representatives told Ratcliffe and the US delegation that the island "does not pose a threat to the national security of the United States." It added that there was no reason to keep Cuba on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, which carries sanctions.
Cuba does not finance or tolerate terrorist organizations and has never supported hostile activities against the US, Havana said.
The news outlet Axios and broadcaster NBC News quoted a CIA official as saying that Ratcliffe had travelled to Cuba to deliver a message from US President Donald Trump that the US is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since Cuba's 1959 revolution and have deteriorated further since the latest change of government in Washington.
In January 2025, shortly after returning to the White House, Trump put the Communist Party-ruled island state back on the US terrorism list. He increased pressure in an effort to force economic and political change in Cuba in line with US interests.
In recent months, the two governments have said they held talks, though the content of those discussions is not known.
The CIA delegation's visit coincided with a US State Department announcement that Cuban government critic Sissi Abascal Zamora, 27, and her family had gone into exile in the US. Abascal was released from prison on Thursday. She had been sentenced to six years in prison after major protests against the government on July 11, 2021.
