Cuba, in Trump's hands: The worst thing is trusting a messiah from the outside because we are incapable of saving ourselves'

"When she first saw the news on Facebook, she thought it had to be one of those hoaxes that circulate on social media. It was too implausible, an absurdity. But shortly afterward the principal of the school where she works forwarded to the teachers' group chat a message that opened with the classic tone of a war dispatch: Information from the Revolutionary Government. Then she had no doubts. The information was real. The CIA director had just met in Havana with the senior leadership of the Cuban security and intelligence apparatus."

"A kind of final flash in the eternal Cold War that looks increasingly irreversible: the energetic stranglehold imposed by Donald Trump since late January has pushed the population to a breaking point, and the political leadership of Castroism into an ongoing negotiation that has now lasted more than two months. A road still riddled with unknowns, anguish, and hope stretching across the island."

"The visit of the CIA delegation, led by its director John Ratcliffe, who arrived in Havana on Thursday aboard the military aircraft used for state travel, is the most significant milestone so far in negotiations shrouded in secrecy. Over these two months there have been other meetings, but none with comparable political weight and above all, symbolic weight. The American intelligence agency has been the greatest foe of the Castroite project since its inception."

"In his incendiary and interminable speeches, Fidel Castro used to call the CIA the executioning arm of American imperialism, holding it responsible for countless attempted coups, acts of sabotage, and assassination plots against him including the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, the landing of some 1,500 Cuban exiles trained and finance"

A teacher initially suspected a social-media report was a hoax, but a message from her school principal confirmed it. The information stated that the CIA director met in Havana with senior Cuban security and intelligence leadership. The meeting is presented as a major milestone in negotiations that have remained largely secret for more than two months. The context includes intense U.S. pressure associated with Donald Trump since late January, described as pushing the population to a breaking point and forcing Castroist political leadership into ongoing talks. The CIA is portrayed as a long-standing enemy of the Cuban project, historically blamed for coups, sabotage, and assassination plots, including the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Read at english.elpais.com