The head of the U.S. mission in Havana has held talks with the Vatican since, he says, “the Church has an extremely important role” on the Island.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Rome, February 25, 2026 – The head of the United States diplomatic mission in Havana, Mike Hammer, emphasized this Wednesday in Rome the importance of supporting a peaceful and swift transition in Cuba so that its inhabitants “have the opportunity to live in freedom.”
“It is extremely important that everyone worldwide—whether the Vatican, the Italian Government, or the Cuban people in exile—come together to support a transition that we hope will take place soon and peacefully,” Hammer said in statements to EFE in Rome, where he met today with a group of Cuban exiles.
The U.S. diplomat has been in Rome since the end of last week, where on Friday he met, among others, with the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, a meeting also attended by Washington’s ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch.
His mission in Italy, he explained, seeks to emphasize that “it is necessary for a change to take place” so that the Cuban people have “the opportunity to live in freedom.”
“We have been talking with them to see what can be done to try to ensure that change can be achieved peacefully.”
In this regard, he said he has held conversations with the Vatican about the situation on the Island since “the Church has an extremely important role” in Cuba.
“We have been talking with them to see what can be done to try to ensure that change can be achieved peacefully,” Hammer stated.
The diplomat, who had also been in Madrid, said he has held “fruitful discussions” with representatives of the Governments of Spain and Italy, to whom he conveyed the need for them “to join this effort and tell the regime that it is time to respect the human rights of the Cuban people.”
For Hammer, this project is important not only for Cuba, but so that “in the Western Hemisphere (…) people can live in safety, with peace of mind and in freedom,” something he described as of “greater and paramount interest” to the United States.
The White House representative linked his efforts to a meeting held on January 9 in Washington with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during which the lines of pressure and diplomacy toward the Island for this year were defined.
Regarding the current U.S. sanctions policy toward Cuba, Hammer argued that their sole objective is “to prevent resources from flowing into the repressive machinery of the Cuban regime.”
“The best way for the Cuban people not to suffer is for this change to take place, allowing them to decide their own future and to earn a living without the repression that exists there,” Hammer concluded.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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