{"id":12074,"date":"2026-04-20T03:49:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/04\/20\/us-imposed-2-week-deadline-during-secret-cuba-meeting-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T03:49:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:49:43","slug":"us-imposed-2-week-deadline-during-secret-cuba-meeting-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/04\/20\/us-imposed-2-week-deadline-during-secret-cuba-meeting-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"US imposed 2-week deadline during secret Cuba meeting – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated April 19, 2026, 9:23 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. has given Cuba two weeks to release high-profile political prisoners in a sign of good faith.<\/p>\n

The demand was presented during a secret meeting<\/a> on April 10 in Cuba, according to a source familiar with the discussion.<\/p>\n

Some of the names floated for release included Luis Manuel Otero Alca\u0301ntara and Maykel Osorbo, dissident artists from the San Isidro movement who were sentenced in 2022.<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement to USA TODAY, a State Department spokesperson said the Trump administration remains committed to the release of all political prisoners, including Alca\u0301ntara and Osorbo.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson pointed to Trump’s remarks at an April 17 rally that a “new dawn for Cuba” is coming and said the regime should stop playing games as direct talks are occurring. The Cuban government has a small window to make a deal, the person said.<\/p>\n

Regime change? A military takeover? Trump’s thorny Cuba options<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n

A senior State Department delegation traveled to Cuba on April 10 for talks with the government, a State Department official confirmed to USA TODAY. A senior State Department official also had a separate meeting with former Cuban leader Raul Castro’s grandson during the visit, the person said.<\/p>\n

It was the first time that a U.S. government plane had landed in Cuba since 2016. Axios was the first news outlet<\/a> to report that the meetings took place.<\/p>\n

The officials told the Cuban government that the island’s economy is in free fall and its ruling elites had a narrow window to make reforms before circumstances irreversibly worsen, the State Department official said. The person said that Trump is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution, if one is possible, but will not let allow the island to collapse into what he views as a major national security threat, if Cuba\u2019s leaders are unwilling or unable to act.<\/p>\n

At the meeting, the U.S. proposed to bring Starlink’s high-speed internet services to Cuba. But the officials said Havana needs to enact reforms that will make Cuba’s economy more competitive and attractive to foreign investment. They also pushed for compensation of Americans and American-owned businesses that had their property confiscated and a lifting of constraints on political freedoms.<\/p>\n

\"Released<\/figure>\n

It was after that meeting that Castro’s grandson, Rau\u0301l Guillermo Rodri\u0301guez Castro, tapped a Cuban businessman to personally bring a letter to the White House, bypassing official channels.<\/p>\n

The man, Roberto Carlos Chamizo Gonza\u0301lez, was intercepted in Miami, as first reported by<\/a> the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

Tensions have been escalating between the U.S. and Havana for weeks, with Trump warning of the potential for a hostile takeover. After capturing Venezuela’s leader in January, the Trump administration\u00a0tightened longstanding\u00a0sanctions and\u00a0oil shipments to Cuba as part of a broader campaign to force sweeping political changes on the communist-run island. Already mired in a severe economic crisis, the near-total blockade is pushing the country toward collapse.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, Trump has said he believed he’d have the “honor of taking Cuba” and the U.S. “may stop by Cuba” after it finishes with Iran.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has signaled in recent days that Trump is still weighing his options. USA TODAY reported on April 15 that military planning for a possible Pentagon-led operation in Cuba was quietly ramping up<\/a>, in case Trump\u00a0gives the order to intervene. A U.S. military surveillance drone<\/a> was later spotted flying near Cuba.<\/p>\n

Asked about the Pentagon planning on Air Force One on April 17, Trump cryptically told a reporter on April 17: “Well, it depends on what your definition of military action is.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated April 19, 2026, 9:23 p.m. ET WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. has given Cuba two weeks to release high-profile political prisoners in a sign of good faith. The demand was presented during a secret meeting on April 10 in Cuba, according to a source familiar with the discussion. Some of the names floated for release […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}