Washington – The United States has given Cuba two weeks to release high political prisoners.
The demand was presented at a secret meeting in Cuba on April 10, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
Some of the names released were Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Mikel Osorbo, dissident artists from the San Isidro movement who were sentenced in 2022.
In a statement to USA Today, a State Department spokesperson said the Trump administration is committed to the release of all political prisoners, including Alcantara and Osorbo.
The spokesman pointed to Trump’s remarks at an April 17 rally that a “new dawn for Cuba” was coming and said the regime Stop playing the game As the direct conversation is taking place. The Cuban government has a small window to reach an agreement, the person said.
Change the system? Military occupation? Trump’s prickly Cuba option
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 had a separate meeting with the grandson of former Cuban leader Raul Castro during the visit, the person said.
It was the first time a US government plane had landed in Cuba since 2016. Axios was the first news outlet to report that the meetings had taken place.
Officials have told the Cuban government that the island’s economy is in free fall and that its ruling elite has a narrow window to improve before conditions deteriorate irreversibly, a State Department official said. The person said Trump is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution, if possible, but if Cuban leaders are unwilling or unable to act, he will not allow the island to collapse as he sees the island as a major national security threat.
At the meeting, the US proposed to bring Starlink high-speed internet service to Cuba. But officials said Havana needed to introduce reforms that would make Cuba’s economy more competitive and attractive to foreign investment. They also insisted on compensating Americans and American-owned businesses and confiscating their assets and removing barriers to political freedom.
special: The Pentagon plans for a possible military operation in Cuba
Released prisoner Roelvis Sanam, 26, leaves a La Lima penitentiary as part of an amnesty for more than 2,000 prisoners announced by the communist-run government amid talks with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump in Havana, Cuba, April 3, 2026.
It was after that meeting that Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Castro’s grandson, tapped a Cuban businessman to personally deliver the letter to the White House, bypassing official channels.
Roberto Carlos Chamizo Gonzalez was stopped in Miami, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Tensions between the US and Havana have been rising for weeks, with Trump warning of the possibility of a hostile takeover. After the capture of Venezuela’s leader in January, the Trump administration tightened long-standing embargoes and oil shipments to Cuba as part of a sweeping campaign to force sweeping political changes on the communist-run island. Already mired in a severe economic crisis, the almost total embargo is pushing the country towards collapse.
In recent weeks, Trump has said he believes he has the “honor to take Cuba” and that the U.S. may “withdraw from Cuba” once it finishes with Iran.
The US 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 is quietly progressing, should Trump order an intervention. A US military surveillance drone was later spotted flying near Cuba.
Asked about the Pentagon’s plans for Air Force One on April 17, Trump cryptically told a reporter on April 17: “Well, it depends on your definition of military action.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump officials give Cuba 2 weeks in secret meeting
