Cuban president says talks held with the United States amid intense pressure from Trump

(CNN) — Cuban officials have held talks with the United States, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed for the first time on Friday, as the island faces an economic crisis and intense pressure from Donald Trump.

“There are international factors that have facilitated these talks,” Díaz-Canel said in a video broadcast Friday on national television, describing the purpose of these talks to “identify the bilateral problems that need a solution.”

Trump on Friday confirmed Díaz-Canel’s announcement, reposting an article about it on his Truth Social platform.

Díaz-Canel said the talks with the US were led by him, along with former President Raúl Castro and some members of his Communist Party, although he did not specify who participated on behalf of the United States.

“As the President (Trump) stated, we are talking to Cuba, whose leaders should make a deal, which he believes ‘would be very easily made,’” a White House official told CNN.

CNN has also asked the State Department for comment.

Trump had said on several occasions that Washington was holding talks with Cuban representatives but this is the first confirmation from Havana.

The Cuban deputy foreign minister told CNN last month that both sides had had “some exchanges of messages” but had not established “a bilateral dialogue” at the time.

Díaz-Canel said Friday: “This is a very sensitive process that is being approached with responsibility and great sensitivity.”

Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a US operation earlier this year, Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to impose tariffs on other countries that sold crude oil to the island. This only worsened the frequent blackouts and fuel shortages facing Cubans.

“Cuba is a failing nation whose rulers have had a major setback with the loss of support from Venezuela and with Mexico ceasing to send them oil,” the White House official added.

Last week Trump told CNN Cuba “is gonna fall pretty soon” and that the government wants “to make a deal so badly.”

In a press briefing that followed the video, Díaz-Canel expanded on his comments, saying the critical situation facing the island “has to do with the energy blockade” imposed by the United States.

“It is a situation for which we have been preparing in advance,” he said, although he emphasized that “no fuel has entered the country for three months.”

“The impact (of the blockade) is tremendous. It is most brutally manifested in these energy issues,” the president said. “This causes anguish among the population,” he acknowledged.

Castro’s grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed “El Cangrejo” (The Crab), appeared seated in the audience as Díaz-Canel delivered his remarks.

Díaz-Canel said healthcare had been particularly hard hit. “Right now in the country there are tens of thousands of people waiting for surgery that cannot be performed due to the lack of electricity,” he said.

The president also said the FBI could visit the island to help investigate last month’s speedboat incursion which resulted in Cuban forces fatally shooting five people aboard, including an American, whom Cuba had accused of trying to carrying out an act of terror.

“Information about the events was promptly provided to our US counterparts, who have expressed, through diplomatic and consular channels, their interest in jointly participating in clarifying the facts. We are awaiting a possible visit from the FBI to participate in clarifying the facts and continue advancing this investigation,” he said at the press conference.

Díaz-Canel described the incident as “an infiltration operation with terrorist intentions, financed and organized from US territory.” The president said the boat, which entered Cuban waters irregularly, carried “heavily armed” crew members, and said this refutes “the claim that they were coming to look for families.”

“Do they think we’re fools or simpletons, or that they can deceive an entire nation with lies and tricks, and that their objective was to attack military units and social centers?” Díaz-Canel asked.

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CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo and Michael Rios contributed to this report.