US-Cuba relations

The officials involved in preliminary discussions with Cuban authorities also told The Associated Press that they are not optimistic the communist government will accept an offer for tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday again blasted the Cuban government, labeling it a "failed state" run by "incompetent communists."

Farming equipment is falling silent across Cuba, with no fuel to power it. As a result, poverty is deepening and hunger is increasing across Cuba, a country of nearly 10 million people.

The vote on the war powers resolution showed how Republicans continue to stand behind Trump as he acts unilaterally to exert American force in a range of global conflicts.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel told NBC News’ Meet the Press that he would not step down in his first interview with a U.S. network, a portion of which was broadcast Thursday.

The Cuban government says it will release 2,010 prisoners in a move that comes while the Trump administration puts extreme pressure on the island's government with a suffocating oil blockade. The announcement Thursday said the pardons were a "humanitarian gesture" in connection with Holy Week and didn't mention mounting pressures with the U.S. The government said the prisoners affected are foreigners and Cubans but didn't name them.

Cuba's deepening economic crisis is pushing struggling families into hunger and forcing them to rely on donations and the black market. One Havana mother says she sometimes has no lunch for herself and her daughters, as fuel shortages, daily blackouts and cuts to rationed food impact families across the island.

The U.S. and Cuban governments have been at odds since the conclusion of the Cuban Revolution 67 years ago. From my perspective as an expert on Havana-Washington ties, however, this moment seems different.

The U.S. and Cuba have been at odds — economically and sometimes militarily — since the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959. But the current crisis is among the most difficult Cuba has faced since then.

It's a major source of revenue for the island. And it's controversial. Now countries are sending Cuban doctors home in response to pressure from the Trump administration.

The crisis in Cuba, driven by systemic mismanagement and intensified by a U.S. oil blockade, spurred a group of liberal activists to travel to the country. But some commentators and conservative politicians denounced the trip as performative and said the activists mocked the Cuban people by staying in luxury hotels and traveling in air conditioned buses.

Speculation is mounting about who, if anyone, might replace Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for change in Cuba's leadership. He still has two years left in his term —- but some experts and a growing number of Cubans doubt he'll make it. Experts say two Castro cousins have come into focus as potential replacements.