Senior American and Cuban officials met in Havana last week in what diplomats are describing as a renewed engagement between the two long-estranged nations, even as the relationship remains deeply fraught. A State Department official, speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, confirmed that a member of the American delegation met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of retired Cuban leader Raúl Castro. Though Raúl Castro holds no official government post, he is widely believed to remain an influential figure behind the scenes in Havana. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not part of the visiting delegation.

The diplomatic outreach comes at a moment of sharp tension. President Donald Trump has openly threatened regime change in Cuba, remarking earlier this week that Washington's attention could turn to the island after other foreign policy priorities. His administration has also tightened energy restrictions on Cuba, cutting off oil flows that had previously arrived from Venezuela following the US detention of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. The resulting fuel shortages and widespread electricity blackouts have severely strained daily life for Cuban workers and businesses.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel struck a defiant but measured tone at a public rally marking the 65th anniversary of Fidel Castro's declaration of Cuba's socialist identity and the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion — a US-backed military incursion that became a defining moment in the countries' adversarial history.