By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday raised the prospect of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, telling reporters at the White House that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dealing with the issue at a “very high level.”
“The Cuban government is talking with us, and they’re in a big deal of trouble,” Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Texas. “They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they’re talking with us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Trump described Cuba as a failing nation in need of change, adding that he had been hearing about the country’s woes since he was a little boy.
“I can see that happening. Marco Rubio is dealing on it and at a very high level,” he said. “They have no money, they have no oil, they have no food. And it’s really right now a nation in deep trouble and they want our help,” he said.
HAVANA HAS SAID NOT IN HIGH-LEVEL TALKS
The Cuban government has said it is not in any high-level talks with the United States but has not outright denied press reports that U.S. officials may be in informal talks with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raul Castro.
Axios reported this month that Rubio had been holding secret talks with the grandson of Cuba’s former leader. U.S. officials close to Rubio met with the grandson again on the sidelines of this week’s regional Caribbean Community conference in St. Kitts and Nevis, the Miami Herald reported on Thursday.
Tensions with Cuba ratcheted up after Cuban forces this week killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a Florida-registered speedboat and opened fire on a Cuban patrol. Rubio denied it was a U.S. operation and said no U.S. government personnel were involved.
The incident took place as the United States has blocked virtually all oil shipments to the island, increasing pressure on the Communist government. Last month, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, removing a key Cuban ally from power.
Rubio has railed against the Cuban government in recent weeks, calling the status quo there unsustainable, and saying Cuba needed to change “dramatically.”
Cuban exiles who are largely concentrated in Miami have long dreamed of overthrowing the Cuban government or seeing it fall and have in the past plotted against the government that was established by the late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
Trump mentioned the large Cuban community, saying a takeover of Cuba by the U.S. could be “something good … very positive” for people who had been expelled from the country.
“We have people living here that want to go back to Cuba, and they’re very happy with what’s going on,” he said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal in Washington; additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in Havana; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Rod Nickel)
