Secret Talks

• Il Segretario di Stato statunitense Marco Rubio ha incontrato Papa Leo XIV e il Cardinale Pietro Parolin in Vaticano giovedì per 2 ore e mezza per discutere degli sforzi di pace in Medio Oriente. • La visita mira a ricucire i rapporti in seguito alle recenti critiche pubbliche del Presidente Donald Trump nei confronti del Papa sulla politica relativa all'Iran. • Rubio si è concentrato sul raggiungimento di una pace duratura, in un contesto di costanti pressioni statunitensi su Tehran, tra cui un blocco navale e una proposta di pace.

Despite hostile rhetoric Trump let a Russian ship break his blockade – could it herald a Venezuela-style outcome?When a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, docked at Cuba’s Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, unloading 700,000 barrels of crude, it was not immediately clear why the ship had been allowed to pass through Donald Trump’s oil blockade.In January, the US president had proclaimed on social media: “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” yet last week he told reporters, “If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with it” – and waved the Russian ship through. Continue reading...

• Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on national TV that Havana has held secret negotiations with the Trump administration due to a U.S. energy blockade causing power outages exceeding 30 hours in some areas. • The talks, confirmed Friday, stem from Cuba's economic collapse amid Trump's oil restrictions, pressuring the regime's 67-year command system. • Secretary of State Marco Rubio leads U.S. efforts, blaming Cuba's leadership while Florida's Cuban American community demands multiparty elections and prisoner releases.