The talks took place amid intense pressure on the island from the Trump administration
US and Cuban military officials have held a rare face-to-face meeting at the Guantanamo Bay naval base as Washington continues to increase pressure on the island nation.
The United States acquired the site on Cuba’s southeast coast in 1903. While Cuba retains formal jurisdiction over the area, Washington has full jurisdiction and control under a lease agreement that Havana considers illegal.
According to the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), its commander, General Francis Donovan, met with the Cuban Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Roberto Legra Sotolongo, on Friday for “brief discussion on operational safety issues.”
Donovan too “led a security assessment of the naval base area and discussed force protection, the safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officers,” SOUTHCOM said.
The Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba described the meeting as “positive,” saying both sides agreed “maintain communication between commands.
In January, US President Donald Trump imposed severe restrictions on oil supplies to Cuba, contributing to fuel shortages and power outages on the island. He has claimed that the Cuban government threatens security and has repeatedly threatened the country with military action.
Last week, former Cuban President Raul Castro was indicted by the US Department of Justice over the 1996 shooting down of two US planes piloted by anti-communist Cuban immigrants off the coast of the island. At the same time, the Pentagon announced that the USS Nimitz carrier group has arrived in the Caribbean islands, prompting comparisons to the military buildup that preceded the US commando invasion of Venezuela earlier this year, which ended with the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare visit to Havana earlier this month, reportedly pushing for reforms including political liberalization and a shift from socialism to a market-based economy.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has denounced the actions of the United States as illegal under international law and promised to protect the country against any military action.
“If we have to die, we will die, because as our national anthem says, ‘To die for the country is to live,'” he said last month.
Diaz-Canel also said that Cuba is ready for talks with the United States, but on an equal footing.
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