Cuba Reportedly Asks Vatican for Mediation amid Tensions with U.S.

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Agnes Lee

JAKARTA - Havana is reported to have asked the Vatican to act as a mediator between Cuba and the United States amid the worsening energy crisis on the island.

As reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, the discussion escalated in late February after the US Ambassador to the Vatican Brian Burch and the US charge d'affaires in Cuba Mike Hammer met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher in Rome.

A week after the meeting, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez traveled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Foreign Minister Rodriguez also invited Pope Leo to visit the Caribbean Islands and requested urgent assistance from the Holy See to alleviate the crisis in Cuba.

Discussions related to this matter also took place further in a separate meeting between Cardinal Parolin and Foreign Minister Rodriguez, in which the senior diplomat urged the Vatican to explain to Washington how critical the situation on the island was, according to a report citing a source about the information of the talks. On the same day, Cardinal Parolin also met with Ambassador Burch and diplomat Hammer.

The Vatican is now seeking a path with less trauma than the American attack on Venezuela that led to the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

In January, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing Washington to impose import tariffs on goods from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. Trump also declared a state of emergency, citing a threat to national security allegedly coming from Havana.

The Cuban government accuses the United States of trying to hamper the Caribbean country's economy and make living conditions unbearable for the Cuban people.

Last week, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed that Havana was negotiating with Washington to resolve the differences between the two countries.

Cuba is also ready to continue negotiations with the United States based on the principles of equality and mutual respect for each country's political system, said President Diaz-Canel.