Senior US and Cuban generals held a rare meeting at Guantánamo Bay, both sides confirmed on Saturday, after reports of a potential upcoming military escalation between the two nations.
The head of US Southern Command (Southcom), General Francis Donovan, met the chief of the general staff of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, at the US military base on Cuba.
During "a brief exchange" with Legrá and other representatives of the Cuban armed forces, “operational security issues” were discussed, the US military said in a post on X.
A Cuban Defence Ministry statement said that the “positive meeting” had taken place by mutual agreement and that the discussion covered issues relevant to both sides.
The statements come days after news site Axios reported Cuba has bought more than 300 military drones.
Havana reportedly began discussing plans to use the drones for attacks on the US base at Guantánamo Bay, on US military ships and possibly on Key West in the US state of Florida, the report said.
Cuba rejected the reports but reaffirmed its right to self-defence in the event of a US attack.
Relations between Washington and Havana have been strained since the revolution and further escalated under US President Donald Trump.
Washington has slammed a series of new sanctions and an oil embargo on the socialist Caribbean island nation, seeking to bring about regime change in US interests through the increase in pressure.
Controversial base
The Guantánamo Bay military base is located on the south-eastern coast of Cuba.
The US has controlled the territory since 1903 under a controversial lease agreement. Since the victory of the Cuban Revolution under Fidel Castro in 1959, Cuba has regarded the open-ended agreement as invalid.
For many, the Guantánamo base is synonymous with the controversial detention camp established by the US after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The number of prisoners held there has fluctuated since but almost 800 people have been detained at times.
Among them were suspected Islamist terrorists who were held for lengthy periods without trial and some were subject to torture.
Efforts by several US administrations to close the prison entirely have failed as few nations are willing to take in the remaining detainees. Fifteen people are still being held at the base.
