“So the United States wants to be involved in Cuba’s economic transformation? Let’s do that,” Cuba’s top diplomat told USA TODAY.
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- Cuba’s top diplomat in the United States has outlined a path toward closer ties with the Trump administration.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading high-level talks in response to the U.S. oil blockade.
- Cuba is open to economic cooperation, but officials insist they will not compromise on national sovereignty.
WASHINGTON – As U.S. officials push for regime change in Cuba, a senior Cuban official in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY laid out a roadmap for stronger ties between the two former Cold War adversaries, saying it could pave the way for business deals and improved relations.
Cuba’s top diplomat, Lianis Torres Rivera, gave no details about the ongoing talks between Washington and Havana, stressing that Cuba retains its sovereignty. But she told USA TODAY that the island nation is willing to cooperate with the Trump administration on a myriad of issues and have the U.S. participate in Cuba’s economic reform.
“There is a wide variety of issues that we can discuss with the United States, and I am confident that it will be in the interests of the United States and Cuba’s national interests,” Torres Rivera said. “So does the United States want to be involved in Cuba’s economic transformation? Let’s do that.”
He said other measures that could improve relations between the two countries include:
- Relaxing regulations based on the U.S. embargo on Cuba and prohibiting Cuba from purchasing products made with at least 10% American parts.
- President Trump waived Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, making it easier for the U.S. to do business in Cuba without asking Congress to repeal the blanket ban.
- Remove Cuba from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. (An action taken by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden that President Trump rescinded during both terms.)
Torres Rivera’s comments provided the first glimpse of what Cuba wants in an economy-focused deal between Washington and Havana, which is the subject of close negotiations.
The high-level talks, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, began in earnest after the United States imposed an oil blockade on Cuba two months ago. Rubio met with the grandson of former Cuban leader Raul Castro in February. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed that the first talks with the United States took place on March 13.
Over the past few weeks, President Trump has hinted at a belligerent occupation of Cuba, saying “Cuba is next” and referring to “friendly” and not-so-friendly occupations of Cuba.
Comments by Torres Rivera and other Cuban officials point to the Cuban government’s desire to reform the economy and expand business ties with the United States.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on March 29, Cuba’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Josefina Vidal hinted at the possibility of an economic agreement with the United States, but reiterated that Cuba would not concede its sovereignty.
“We are ready, willing and open to put negotiations with the United States on the table,” she said. “The possibilities for Cuba and the United States to work together are endless… Opportunities are open to Cuba.”
Rubio told reporters on March 27 that Cuba “will never be able to develop economically” unless it breaks away from communism. “Giving people economic and political freedom is important, but they are closely related and they unite,” he said.
Torres Rivera said he wants President Trump to take executive action to ease certain sanctions against Cuba, including the U.S. embargo enacted in 1962 as a means of isolating the communist island. The embargo was enacted into law in 1996 by the Helms-Burton Act.
She also proposed bringing together scientists and law enforcement officials from both countries to collaborate on new efforts in everything from Alzheimer’s drugs to fighting drug trafficking.
“President Trump has an opportunity to build an equal relationship in the relationship with Cuba, the relationship between Cuba and the United States, which could benefit both countries,” Torres Rivera said. “He could do it.”
Trump administration officials declined to comment directly on Torres Rivera’s remarks, other than to say the administration sounds desperate.
What remains unclear is what concessions or changes Cuban officials are willing to make in exchange for easing restrictions. Torres Rivera and other Cuban officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of relinquishing their right to govern as they choose.
A senior State Department official told USA TODAY that the U.S. wants the Cuban regime to reach an agreement with U.S. support that would allow the Cuban people to be free and prosperous. As part of any deal, the administration would have to make significant changes, including allowing businesses to be privatized and allowing Cubans to become economically self-sufficient, officials said.
Changes in US sanctions against Cuba have historically been difficult political maneuvers. Over 60 years, 12 U.S. presidents, from John F. Kennedy to President Trump, have grappled with varying degrees of success in navigating the longest series of sanctions in U.S. foreign policy history: embargoes. Cuba estimates that the sanctions have cost it more than $170 billion in revenue since President Kennedy imposed them in 1962.
Most countries, including several of the United States’ major allies, formally encourage the United States to end the embargo through support for annual United Nations resolutions.
In October, the United Nations General Assembly voted 165-7 (with 12 abstentions) to adopt a non-binding resolution calling on the United States to end the embargo, marking the 33rd consecutive year that a similar resolution has been passed.
Torres Rivera cited the United Nations resolution as evidence that the United States is on the wrong side of the issue.
“Americans are welcome in Cuba. American businesses are welcome in Cuba. Cuban-American investment and trade is also welcome in Cuba,” she said. “Our country could have had a much different standard of living for the Cuban people…if we could have achieved all of this.”
Lifting the full embargo would require a vote in Congress, but Mr. Trump could lift many of the sanctions through an executive order or executive action, such as removing Cuba from the State Department’s terrorist list, said Robert Muse, a Washington-based lawyer who specializes in U.S. law related to Cuba.
For example, on February 25, the Trump administration began allowing U.S. petroleum products, including diesel, to be sold directly to Cuba’s private sector.
“There is no limit to what he can do,” Muse said, including easing travel restrictions to the island and allowing direct interaction with Cuban businesses. “Any president can leave the embargo on Cuba in place like Swiss cheese. It’s full of holes and no cheese.”
Richard Feinberg, a professor at the University of California, San Diego and author of “Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy,” said Cuba needs to pass significant economic reforms, such as allowing international investors to directly hire Cuban workers or privatize government-owned entities such as hotels, before the Trump administration considers easing the embargo.
He said Cuba’s reforms must go hand in hand with the easing of the U.S. embargo.
“Who would invest in an island under sanctions?” Feinberg said. “Serious reforms on the island must proceed in parallel with a full-scale lifting of sanctions.”
Another important step Cuba could take, he said, would be to resolve outstanding claims from individuals and businesses who claim their property was confiscated by the Cuban government in the 1960s. The U.S. government estimates that Cuba owes nearly $2 billion to about 6,000 companies for nationalized real estate, but some independent estimates put the figure significantly higher.
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases in which U.S. companies sought compensation for confiscated property.
“It’s going to show good faith and it’s going to show, ‘Okay, we’re serious,'” Feinberg said.
Francesca Chambers is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent, covering foreign policy and presidential elections. You can follow her at X @fran_chambers.
Rick Jarvis is a national correspondent for USA TODAY’s investigative team based in Austin, Texas. Follow Jarvis on X: @MrRJervis.
