Amid rumors of transition in Cuba, Raúl Castro's grandson reportedly tried to contact Trump with a "secret" letter

The grandson of Raúl Castro reportedly sent a "secret" letter to Donald Trump. That is Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, whom many analysts see as a possible transition figure in Cuba. Martí Noticias reported this after speaking with diplomatic sources with knowledge of the matter.

"He tried to move as if he were fulfilling a diplomatic function, but he had no recognized status," one of the sources in DC who spoke on condition of anonymity told the cited media outlet. "It was not a personal letter. It had all the structure of an official communication, although it did not come through the usual channels," a second source added.

As the sources pointed out, the document bore an official Cuban seal and was written in a format similar to that of a diplomatic note.

The letter would have been sent through the businessman Roberto Carlos Chamizo González, who was recently in the United States but had to return to Cuba after trying to carry out procedures that "did not have official accreditation."

Regarding the contents of the alleged letter, Martí Noticias reported that it included "calls to avoid a possible escalation of tensions, assured that the regime is prepared for a U.S. military incursion and proposed to explore economic agreements and eliminate sanctions."

"It is an attempt to buy time and open a direct channel with the president. They want to get Secretary of State Marco Rubio out of the way because he understands that without a change in the system there will be no real possibility of improvement," analyzed one of the sources.

About Castro's grandson, he is known as El Cangrejo, and his profile has grown strongly in recent months. According to the Wall Street Journal, he was sent to meet with U.S. officials when Secretary of State Marco Rubio, attended a conference in the Caribbean last February.

"He soon became his grandfather’s shadow, the gatekeeper who holds Raúl Castro’s telephone, passing or not passing messages and documents along. He can dole out favors, such as access to a vacation beach house or the green light to open a nightclub, relatives said. He also takes part in business negotiations for the government, according to a person familiar with the matter," noted the WSJ.

Regime change in Cuba?

As stated by President Trump himself, the Secretary of State is actively working on a transition in Cuba. If realized, this scenario would put an end to a dictatorship that has been in power for more than 60 years.

"Cuba is right now a failed nation, and they don't even have jet fuel to get airplanes to take off. They're plugging up their runway. We're talking to Cuba right now, and Marco Rubio is talking to Cuba right now, and they should absolutely make a deal because it's a human; it's really a humanitarian threat. And we have a lot of great Cuban Americans, and they're gonna be very happy when they're gonna be able to go back and say hello to their relatives and do things that they should have been allowed to do for a long time," Trump said in February.

Rubio, who is the son of Cuban parents, also spoke on the matter during a Senate hearing. "I think we would like to see the regime there change. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make a change, but we would love to see a change. There’s no doubt about the fact that it would be of great value, a great benefit to the United States, if Cuba was no longer governed by an autocratic regime," he told Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz.