Seoul Gazette - US says held talks with Cuba on $100 mln offer

Mike Hammer, the acting US ambassador to Havana, met Monday with foreign ministry officials, the State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

"We have been in close coordination with the Cubans. We had a meeting yesterday (Monday) and continue to pursue that proposal aggressively, contrary to some of the lies of the Cuban ministry of foreign affairs," the official said.

"We continue to urge the regime to accept the proposal and try to prevent interference with the delivery of assistance," he said.

The aid would be distributed through Catholic Relief Services and Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Protestant charity, and not handed over directly to the Cuban government, he said.

"The Cuban regime is sitting on several billions of dollars," he said. "We would urge them to use that money to actually help the Cuban people invest in their infrastructure instead of hoarding it."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sworn foe of Havana's communist government, has publicly offered the $100 million but has demanded that Cuba take steps to open up.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez last week said that Havana was open to reviewing the aid proposal, after earlier saying Rubio was lying about the offer.

Cuba has been in the throes of a major economic crisis with persistent energy blackouts after the United States overthrew Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro and ended the flow of free oil from Caracas in exchange for Cuban medical expertise and other services.

With the situation increasingly dire, Cuba -- for decades targeted in US espionage -- last week took the extraordinary step of welcoming CIA Director John Ratcliffe for talks.

H.Yoon--SG