Cuba apparently tried to get a message to President Trump the old-fashioned way: by hand. The grandson of former leader Raul Castro enlisted a wealthy Havana businessman to personally deliver a sealed letter to the White House last week, bypassing normal diplomatic channels—and, notably, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The note, described as resembling a formal diplomatic cable and bearing an official Cuban seal, floated ideas for economic and investment deals, asked for sanctions relief, and warned that Havana is preparing for US military action, the sources say.
The would-be courier, 37-year-old luxury car and resort entrepreneur Roberto Carlos Chamizo González, never made it past Miami: Customs and Border Protection officers stopped him, seized the letter, and sent him back to Havana, the Journal reports, citing "a current US official." Analysts say the effort, led by Raul Castro's influential grandson and aide Raul Rodríguez Castro, shows Havana's leadership is trying to appeal directly to Trump as Cuba's economy reels—and to sidestep Rubio, a longtime hardliner on Cuba policy. The White House has not said whether Trump ever saw the message.
"This effort suggests that they no longer trust Rubio to be a dispassionate interlocutor and want to appeal directly to the president to resolve the escalating crisis," says Peter Kornbluh, co-author of Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana. Sources tell USA Today that the Pentagon has stepped up planning for a possible Cuba incursion. Last month, Trump said he believes he will "have the honor of taking Cuba." On Monday, referring to the Iran war, he told USA Today, "We may stop by Cuba after we're finished with this."
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