High-level US delegation visits Cuba as Trump ups pressure | CNN Politics

A senior US delegation met with Cuban government officials in Cuba as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to pressure Havana into a deal as it continues to exert its economic chokehold on the island. It was the one of the highest-level visits of US officials in roughly a decade and comes as President Donald Trump continues to raise the specter of potential military action. It also comes as Cuba’s economic crisis continues to deepen amid sharp restrictions, including on fuel, from the US administration. Cuba’s president, meanwhile, has made increasingly defiant calls to resist US military aggression in recent days. The senior State Department delegation, which visited the island in recent weeks, stressed that time was running out for Havana “to make key US backed reforms before circumstances irreversibly worsen,” a US State Department official told CNN. It was the first time a US government aircraft touched down in Cuba – other than at the US base in Guantanamo Bay – since 2016, when former President Barack Obama visited amid an effort to expand relations with Havana. According to the State Department official, the US delegation stressed “Cuba’s need to mak