During a recent visit to Cuba, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe brought with him one of the participants in the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, CBS News reported, citing its own sources.
The CIA director introduced this person to his hosts as "the killer of the Venezuelan leader's Cuban bodyguards", according to the channel, which reported that the intelligence chief wanted to send a specific message to the Cubans.
Last week, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior announced a meeting in Havana between its representative and the CIA director. During the meeting, the CIA director assured him that "Cuba does not pose a threat to US national security and there is no legal basis for including it on the US list of countries suspected of sponsoring terrorism." In addition, the Interior Ministry statement stressed that "there are no foreign military or intelligence bases" on the island. and that Cuba has never supported hostile activities against the United States.
As Axios later reported, citing sources, the CIA director met with Raúl Castro's grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, as well as Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence during his visit to Cuba.
On March 5, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington intended to begin developing a further plan of action regarding Cuba after the military operation against Iran was concluded.