US official claims country has reached an impasse on improving relations with Cuba: report

The United States' efforts to improve its relationship with Cuba is at a standstill, an anonymous U.S. official said on Wednesday, claiming the island nation needs to improve its human rights records if the countries want to continue mending the relationship.

“We haven’t seen a willingness by the Cuban government to make a grander gesture that would result in a significant thaw in relations,” the official told Politico.

The U.S. removed Cuba from its list of countries that are “not fully cooperating” with the U.S.'s antiterrorism efforts, and Cuban officials have been allowed to visit Miami International Airport and tour the airport’s security facilities recently. The Treasury department has also allowed Cuban entrepreneurs access to American banking services and financial platforms.

Now the White House said the country will not go any further in improving the relationship until Cuba demonstrates that it is willing to improve its human rights record, but Cuban officials claimed Washington has not gone far enough.

Cuban officials claimed that while the U.S. has made progress in certain areas, it is ignoring some important issues such as listing Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

“Cuba has relayed to the United States government via public and private channels that we are ready to sit down and discuss issues of bilateral importance that are priorities for both peoples,” Lianys Torres Rivera, chargé d’affaires at Cuba’s embassy in Washington, told the outlet. “And what we ask for is respect and non-interference in our domestic affairs.”

The comments come as Cuba faces an economic crisis that has spurred immigration to the U.S. through the country's southern border with Mexico. The surge in illegal immigration comes as the U.S. faces a border security crisis.

Some Democrats, such as Massachusetts Rep.  Jim McGovern claimed that the administration should still do more to try and smooth things out with Cuba.

“The status quo is not working,” McGovern said. “We’re locked into this old Cold War type of approach that didn’t work during the Cold War and we’re still stuck with it because nobody wants to just rip the band aid off and say, you know, let’s try something different here.”

The headway the United States has managed to make with Cuba in recent months are some of the biggest changes since former President Barack Obama's administration. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.