Three weeks after CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana, reopening a political backchannel between Washington and the Cuban government, a rare military-to-military meeting unfolded at the edge of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. Southern Command wrote on X that Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, met with Cuban Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo and other officers at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for what SOUTHCOM described as a "brief exchange on operational security matters."
#SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan met with Army Corps General, Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister of the Chief of the General Staff, and other senior leaders from the Cuban military today at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a… pic.twitter.com/V4Fau3HxSo
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 29, 2026SOUTHCOM did not elaborate on the brief exchange between top U.S. military brass in the region and Cuban generals. No statement was issued by the U.S. Embassy in Havana, leaving the meeting framed as yet another signal that U.S.-Cuba talks are strengthening.
In mid-May, CIA Director John Ratcliffe held high-level talks with Cuba's Interior Minister, the head of Cuban intelligence, and Raúl Castro's grandson, Raulito Rodríguez Castro.
Havana, Cuba pic.twitter.com/7S7TtJPyf5
— CIA (@CIA) May 14, 2026Havana's communist government released a statement noting that the meeting "took place Thursday, May 14, against a backdrop of complex bilateral relations."
AP noted that Cuban officials presented a report to Ratcliffe and his team, claiming to demonstrate that the communist-run island poses no threat to U.S. national security.
Meanwhile…
Increased back channeling has come amid a sharp escalation in U.S.-Cuba tensions. The Trump administration has been pressing Havana for sweeping economic and political reforms, while the U.S. naval blockade on fuel shipments remains in place.
President Trump has repeatedly warned Havana about military intervention. The Justice Department last week unsealed an indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five others of the communist regime.
Also, the Treasury Department subpoenaed far-left influencer Hasan Piker over his trip to Cuba. He and CCP-aligned NGOs that went to Cuba are being investigated by officials to determine if they violated U.S. sanctions and laws.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/30/2026 - 09:55Alice Weidel, co-leader of the anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has successfully sued the Left Party leader and won a retraction after she spread falsehoods about Weidel on live television.
In mid-May, Ines Schwerdtner, the federal chairwoman of the Left Party, claimed during an interview on Welt TV that Wediel neither resides in Germany nor pays taxes.
“Alice Weidel doesn’t even live in Germany, she doesn’t pay taxes here,” she told viewers.
This statement is false.
While Weidel spends much of her time with her family in Switzerland, she has her primary residence in Germany and pays taxes in the Federal Republic of Germany. Weidel has been very guarded about the issue over the years, as she faces a high threat level and avoids appearing in public due to the security threat she lives under.
AfD leader has family taken to safe house and cancels rally due to attack threatWeidel’s lawyers explained in a warning letter, cited by Junge Freiheit, that this claim was false, as their client both lived in Germany and paid taxes.
The law firm Höcker filed a lawsuit on the AfD’s behalf seeking an injunction. Weidel’s lawyers also demanded that Schwerdtner ensure the relevant passage was deleted from Welt TV’s programming.
Furthermore, the lawsuit calls on the Left Party leader to acknowledge the “claim for damages.”
Following this, Schwerdtner’s lawyer sent a letter to the Höcker law firm stating that their client had “indeed made a mistake.” The Left Party leader additionally undertook to “refrain” from making the false statement that Weidel does not pay taxes in Germany.
The letter also pointed out that the interview in question on Welt TV had since been deleted by the broadcaster. Furthermore, Schwerdtner stated that she would transfer the legal fees “within one week.”
Germany: Left Party wants voting rights for all foreigners who have lived in the country for 5 yearsWeidel’s press spokesman, Daniel Tapp, told JF that in politics one “shouldn’t be too sensitive in principle.”
However, when “blatant falsehoods are being spread, one cannot let them stand unchallenged.”
The AfD has been surging in the polls, with one survey last week showing it hitting a record 42 percent in Saxony, double the support of the second-place Christian Democrats (CDU).
Germany: Anti-immigration AfD soars to record high 42% in state of Saxony, nears absolute majorityA poll in May showed the AfD at 29 percent at the national level, while the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) fell to 22 percent.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/30/2026 - 09:20