CIA director visits Cuba for rare meeting as island runs out of fuel

CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Cuba on Thursday to meet intelligence officials and Raulito Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of former leader Raúl Castro.

The big picture: Cuba is facing a crippling fuel shortage and economic crisis, due in part to U.S. sanctions. President Trump has repeatedly indicated he wants regime change, though a CIA official said Ratcliffe emphasized that cooperation is possible if the government makes "fundamental changes."

• Ratcliffe urged the Cuban officials to take a lesson from the Jan. 3 operation that toppled Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the CIA official said.

The intrigue: The fact that the Cuban government was willing to openly host a member of Trump's administration — particularly the director of the CIA — suggests some in Havana may be interested in a deal.

• "They have no fuel. They have no money. They have no one coming to rescue them. The regime has been stubborn since 1959, but even they realize it's time for a change," a senior administration official claimed to Axios.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio has led secret talks with Cuban leaders and power brokers, as Axios previously reported, though there has been no clear breakthrough.
• The CIA official said Ratcliffe met with Raulito Castro, with whom Rubio has been negotiating, as well as Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence.

Zoom in: Emergency sanctions announced last week by Rubio sent a message to companies doing business with the Cuban government that they'll face financial penalties.

• "It's hard for corporations to make money in Cuba and the sanctions just make it not worth it for companies to stay there," the U.S. official said.

Driving the news: The Cuban government was the first to reveal the meeting and said it was "part of the efforts to address the current scenario."

• Havana's readout said the Cuban side demonstrated to Ratcliffe that Cuba is not a threat to the U.S. or a state sponsor of terror, as it was designated in Trump's first term.
• The CIA official said Ratcliffe went to Havana "to deliver President Trump's message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes."
• "During the meeting, Director Ratcliffe and Cuban officials discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues, all against the backdrop that Cuba can no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere," the official said.

State of play: Other major headlines from Cuba over the past 24 hours illustrate how fast the situation is deteriorating.

• Cuba's energy minister said Wednesday that the country had run out of fuel oil and diesel and that blackouts could exceed 20-22 hours per day.
• The fuel crunch came after the Maduro operation, when the U.S. asserted control over the Venezuelan oil exports on which Cuba was heavily reliant.
• There have been reports of hospitals struggling to provide lifesaving care and Cubans going to extraordinary lengths to cook meals without any gas for their stoves.
• Cuba also released a political prisoner, Sissi Abascal Zamora, on Thursday, in another sign that the government is seeking to alleviate U.S. pressure.

Between the lines: The CIA director's meeting with an intelligence services counterpart is significant because Cuba is a repressive spy state that closely monitors its population.

• The U.S. wants to ensure that a non-repressive security structure remains intact to avoid bedlam in the streets and mass migration to the U.S., officials say.

What to watch: The CIA official stressed that the window of opportunity for talks with the U.S. will not stay open indefinitely, and that Trump will find another way to "enforce his red lines" if dialogue doesn't work.