Rubio’s secret squeeze on Raul Castro’s Cuba

(Marc Caputo – Axios) Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been holding secret talks with the grandson and caretaker of Cuba’s aging de facto dictator, Raul Castro, as the U.S. puts unprecedented pressure on Havana’s regime, three sources tell Axios. Why it matters: The talks between Rubio and Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro are bypassing official Cuban government channels. They show that the Trump administration sees the 94-year-old revolutionary as the communist island’s true decision-maker. “I wouldn’t call these ‘negotiations’ as much as ‘discussions’ about the future,” a senior Trump administration official said. Zoom in: Rubio and his team see the 41-year-old grandson and his circle as representing younger, business-minded Cubans for whom revolutionary communism has failed — and who see value in rapprochement with the U.S. – Rubio’s secret squeeze on Raul Castro’s Cuba