ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
And now a look at Cuba after the island ran out of oil prices, causing massive blackouts across the country and a night of protests. Havana also got a visit from the CIA director this week. He was there for negotiations, starting with a tough choice for Cuba's leaders - change, or the U.S. will act. NPR international correspondent Eyder Peralta is following and joins us now. Good morning, Eyder.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning, Elissa.
NADWORNY: So let's start with more details from what looks like a week with a lot going on in Cuba.
PERALTA: Yeah. I mean, we're reaching summer there, so it's really hot. And it so happens that the lights went off for more than 24 hours this week. So on Wednesday, very unhappy people took to the streets of Havana. They banged on pots and pants, demanding that the government turn the lights back on, and the government didn't offer much hope. The country's energy minister, Vicente de la O Levy, came on TV and said that the 100,000 tons of Russian crude that arrived in April has been used up and that the grid is now operating essentially without reserves.
And remember that Cuba has received precious little oil because the U.S. is running a de facto oil blockade. Cuba has been investing in solar power, but the grid is so old, so frail, so lacking in maintenance that it can't handle the voltage fluctuations that happen with solar energy. So that means that the long blackouts that are making life miserable on the island are here to stay.
NADWORNY: And while all this is happening, the director of the CIA lands in the country?
PERALTA: Yeah. Cuba says that the U.S. asked for a high-level meeting and a delegation headed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe landed in Havana on Thursday. The Cubans say they made it clear that they don't pose a security threat to the U.S. They say they don't host any foreign military or intelligence bases on the island. The U.S. readout of the visit came out from a CIA official speaking to NPR on condition of anonymity, and that official said that Ratcliffe came with a message for Cuba, and that's that the U.S. wants to, quote, "seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes."
I've spoken to Cuban officials and they have been fairly consistent in saying that they are open to economic reforms on the island. They're even open to U.S. investment, they say, but that they will not - especially not under pressure from the United States - give up their president or change their one-party system, or for that matter, their socialist ideology. I think the question is whether those things are the changes that the U.S. considers fundamental.
NADWORNY: So what? I mean, does this point to a stalemate? Neither side is going to budge?
PERALTA: I think you could read it that way, and that's consequential because President Trump has threatened military action. But I had a conversation with Lillian Guerra, a Cuban historian at the University of Florida, and she sees both sides softening. The Vatican, for example, has been instrumental in bridging gaps between the U.S. and Cuba. And it's notable that Secretary of State Marco Rubio met recently with Pope Leo. The U.S. has also offered Cuba a hundred million dollars in aid, and Cuba has said they would take it. And importantly, Cuba has also released a high-profile prisoner on Thursday. Guerra's read is that the situation is so dire in Cuba that both sides are afraid of an explosion, one that could leave Cuba grappling with a popular uprising, and it could leave the U.S. facing a humanitarian and migrant crisis.
LILLIAN GUERRA: I think there's a bit of a desperation, I would say, on all sides 'cause we've got basically Cuba experiencing a cardiac arrest, and everybody keeps trying to treat that with a Band-Aid.
PERALTA: And basically, what Guerra is saying is that Cuba is at a tipping point, and something has to give, and maybe - just maybe - that means a deal between the U.S. and Cuba.
NADWORNY: That's NPR's Eyder Peralta. Eyder, thank you so much.
PERALTA: Thank you, Elissa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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