The downtown skyline of Havana, Cuba, circa December 14, 2023. The US is pressuring Cuba’s government to fall without a long-term strategy. (Shutterstock/Sean Pavone)

Why the US Needs a Clear Cuba Strategy

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Without a plan, the United States could see Cuba’s current crisis drift into a regional problem.

The most revealing part of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s recent visit to Havana was not the visit itself. It was what came next.

On May 20, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants over the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue over international waters. The department says the charges include conspiracy to kill US nationals, destruction of aircraft, and murder. The Associated Press reported that a warrant had been issued for Castro’s arrest.

That changes the meaning of Ratcliffe’s May 14 visit. According to the Associated Press, Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana, including Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Raúl Castro’s grandson, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas, and the head of Cuban intelligence. A CIA official said Ratcliffe delivered President Donald Trump’s message that Washington was prepared to engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba made “fundamental changes.” Reuters described the visit as only the second known visit by a CIA director to Cuba since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

Cuba’s government told a different story. Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party,........

© The National Interest