By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. is in talks with Havana and raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba” without offering any details on what he meant.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House as he left for a trip to Texas, Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in discussions with Cuban leaders “at a very high level.”

“The Cuban government is talking with us,” the president said. “They have no money. They have no anything right now. But they’re talking to us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

He added: “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Related Articles

AIPAC faces test of its power in Illinois primary as Democrats debate future of Israel relationship

What to watch as the midterms begin with Tuesday’s primaries

House Democrats say they’re headed back to power. Their agenda is a work in progress

Trump heads to Texas, where 3 supporters are battling it out in the Senate Republican primary

US moves to legally control tanker and 2M barrels of oil seized off Venezuela’s coast in December

Trump didn’t clarify his comments but seemed to indicate that the situation with Cuba, a communist-run island that has been among Washington’s bitterest adversaries for decades, was coming to a critical point. The White House did not respond to requests for more information Friday.

The president also said that Cuba “is, to put it mildly, a failed nation” and “they want our help.”

His remarks came two days after the Cuban government reported that a Florida-registered speedboat carrying 10 armed Cubans from the U.S. opened fire on soldiers off the island’s north coast. Four of the armed Cubans were killed, and six were injured in responding gunfire, according to Cuba’s government. One Cuban official also was injured.

Cuba has been on Trump’s mind since at least early January, after U.S. forces ousted one of Havana’s closest allies, Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolás Maduro. Trump suggested in the aftermath of that raid that military action in Cuba might not be necessary because the island’s economy was weak enough — particularly in the absence of oil shipments from Venezuela that stopped after Maduro was taken into custody — to soon collapse on its own.

“We’ve had a lot of years of dealing with Cuba. I’ve been hearing about Cuba since I’m a little boy. But they’re in big trouble,” he said Friday.

Then, noting the exile community from the island living in the U.S., Trump said there could be something coming that “I think (is) very positive for the people that were expelled, or worse, from Cuba and live here.” He did not elaborate.

The U.S. has maintained a strict trade embargo on Cuba since 1962, the year after a failed, CIA-sponsored invasion of the island at the Bay of Pigs. Trump nonetheless indicated earlier this month that talks with Cuban officials were underway.

Cuba’s government confirmed earlier this week that it was communicating with U.S. officials following the shooting of the American boat. Rubio has said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard are investigating what happened.

An executive order that Trump signed in late January pledged to impose tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba, threatening to further cripple a country already plagued by a deepening energy crisis, though U.S. authorities have since indicated that oil from Venezuela can be sold to Cuban interests in some cases.

Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, posted on social media Friday that “the US maintains its fuel embargo against Cuba in full force, and its impact as a form of collective punishment is unwavering.”

“Nothing announced in recent days changes this reality,” he wrote on X. “The possibility of conditional sales to the private sector already existed and does not alleviate the impact on the Cuban population.”

Meanwhile, 40-plus U.S. civil society organizations sent a letter to Congress on Friday asking that it “press the Trump administration to reverse its aggressive policy towards Cuba” and saying that efforts to cut oil shipments to the Caribbean island would spark a humanitarian collapse.

Signees included the Alliance of Baptists, ActionAid USA and the Presbyterian Church.

“Policies that deliberately impose hunger and mass hardship on millions of civilians constitute a form of collective punishment, and as such are a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the letter reads.

Associated Press writer Dánica Coto contributed from San José, Costa Rica.

St. Paul Public Schools’ executive chief of schools Andrew Collins’ last day with the district is March 13, according to district officials.

A part of the district’s senior executive leadership team, Collins oversees the district’s athletics director and its five assistant superintendents. He has worked in the district in various roles, including as a principal.

A new position for a senior executive officer of school leadership and operations will replace Collins’ role is currently accepting applications, with an expected July 1 start date.

“It’s been a distinct pleasure and absolute privilege to serve the students, families and staff of Saint Paul Public Schools,” Collins said in a statement Wednesday. “I wish them all the best as they end this school year. I also want to express my deep appreciation for and gratitude to our community, staff and many community partners who have contributed to our collective successes over the years. As I consider new opportunities, I am committed to continuing to serve, invest in and build a stronger future for our youth and their families.”

In previous roles, Collins served as the district’s director of turnaround schools starting in 2010. In that role, he oversaw St. Paul’s Promise Neighborhood project. The project was designed to help low-income, high-crime neighborhoods through health and well-being efforts for children and families. He also oversaw the district’s Achievement Plus program and was an extended learning coordinator, according to the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

Collins also previously served as the principal at Dayton’s Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School and as an assistant superintendent.

“The structure of the senior executive leadership team is essential to ensuring that school and district leaders in Saint Paul Public Schools have the support they need to drive student academic success,” district officials said in a statement Wednesday. “The district thanks Andrew Collins for his many years of service and the impact he made during his tenure.”

The district’s senior executive leadership team reports directly to the superintendent and includes the executive chiefs of Administration and Operation, Financial Services, Human Resources and Equity, Strategy and Innovation, as well as the director of communications and the senior executive academic officer.

The senior executive officer of school leadership and operations will develop school leaders, such as principals and assistant superintendents through coaching and professional development. The salary for the position ranges from $175,000 to $210,000.

The role will also oversee school operations and district athletics and activities programming and work in partnership with the senior executive academic officer. The district’s assistant superintendents and athletic director will report to this role.

Related Articles

Minnesota school districts, teachers union sue to block immigration enforcement near schools

St. Paul Public Schools, others cancel classes Friday due to frigid weather

St. Paul schools: 6,000 students to do online learning due to immigration actions

St. Paul Public Schools to offer online learning at all schools

Students protest ICE enforcement, walk out of classes, rally at the Capitol

Your neighborhood bar is generally a spot where people from all walks of life come together for a cold beer and a simple meal.

Sweeney’s Saloon owner Will Rolf is hoping to extend that camaraderie to the political sphere by offering a free meal to any Democrat and Republican pair or group that come in together.

Beginning now and running through the end of the legislative session, Sweeney’s will offer its Poor Man Special and a beer or soda on the house to any table consisting of politicians on both sides of the aisle.

In a news release, Rolf said, “the idea grew out of the same question many Minnesotans are asking: ‘What can I do, from where I sit, to help lower the temperature?’

“Neighborhood bars have always been the place where people come to connect. You don’t have to think alike to sit at the same table. You just have to show up willing to talk like neighbors.”

Rolf has owned the bar for just more than a year.

“I can’t fix politics,” he said in the release. “But I can provide the bread for people to break together. If two legislators want to take an hour to talk face‑to‑face instead of through press releases, I’m happy to buy them a meal.”

The Poor Man Special changes daily and is just $9.99 for those of us not in the Legislature. It comes with a free soda or a $3 beer.

Sweeney’s Saloon: 96 N. Dale St., St. Paul; 612-396-0701; sweeneyssaloon.com

Related Articles

Biden flies commercial from Reagan National Airport and winds up stuck in delays like everyone else

AIPAC faces test of its power in Illinois primary as Democrats debate future of Israel relationship

MN revenue forecast: $3.7B surplus for 2026-2027, a $377M surplus in 2028-2029

What to watch as the midterms begin with Tuesday’s primaries

House Democrats say they’re headed back to power. Their agenda is a work in progress

 

 

 

An ex-Oakdale police officer was placed on probation for one year Friday after a jury found him guilty of misconduct stemming from repeated telephone calls he made to a man who had known mental health issues and was being surveilled because of a felony arrest warrant.

Charles Anthony Nelson, 44, was convicted of misconduct of a public officer by making false documents, a gross misdemeanor, for intentionally omitting the calls in his report of the 2022 incident. Jurors acquitted Nelson, of Minneapolis, of misdemeanor harassing phone calls.

Prosecutors contended at trial that Nelson acted with intent to harass the man through the more than 30 calls — noting how the officer didn’t say anything when the man answered — and that they caused him to exit his home with a shotgun, potentially putting himself and others at risk.

Nelson’s attorneys argued that he called the man, who had a history of mental health issues and was armed, to get him out of the house.

Judge Gregory Galler denied a request from Nelson’s attorneys to sentence the conviction as a misdemeanor, staying a 364-day jail sentence for one year. Galler ordered Nelson to serve 15 days of community work service, complete booking at the county jail and undergo a cognitive skills evaluation and follow any recommendations.

Nelson was placed on paid leave after the Sept. 22, 2022, incident and resigned the following March, according to the city. He’d been an Oakdale officer since Dec. 20, 2006.

Disguised phone number

According to the criminal complaint, Nelson and his partner Andrew Dickman were dispatched to Greystone Avenue to look for the man, who had a felony arrest warrant for allegedly making threats.

The officers were told by command staff “not to engage with the individual, specifically due to his reported mental health issues and potential diagnosis of schizophrenia,” the complaint stated. “His recent actions were escalating, and it was known that he possessed firearms and had recently made threats of violence.”

Shortly after arriving at the home just after midnight, Nelson downloaded a phone app that disguises the phone number of incoming calls. He began making calls over the next three hours.

The man answered several of the calls, but Nelson did not say anything. When the man called Nelson back at 1:25 a.m., the officer denied making the calls.

The man reported the calls to Washington County dispatch, and also called the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and asked who was calling him.

At one point, he came out with a shotgun, before retreating back into the house. Washington County SWAT was called and eventually arrested him.

Nelson worked the remainder of the weekend and, “despite knowing that his phone calls and actions exacerbated the situation” with the man, he did not disclose that he made them, the complaint said.

He omitted the calls in his incident report related to the man’s arrest, “despite the knowledge that the Oakdale Police Department was attempting to determine the veracity of the claims by Victim that he had been getting repeated calls,” the complaint continued.

Related Articles

Colin Gray testifies in trial after his son was accused of Georgia high school shooting

A nearly blind refugee is found dead after Border Patrol agents drop him at Buffalo doughnut shop

Park Rapids man accused of threats against lawmaker, state Capitol

Lakeville teen charged with robbery at school allegedly had gun, though no weapon found

Convicted stowaway arrested again after a new alleged ticketless flight from US to Italy

Five days after the incident, Dickman reported to a sergeant that Nelson was the source of the calls.

Oakdale Police Chief Nick Newton contacted the BCA, who began an investigation. The surveillance subject’s wife told the BCA that he called her that night and told her about the calls, which she said made him “paranoid,” the complaint said.

In an interview with BCA agents, Nelson admitted to making the calls and “claimed it was to ‘build rapport’ and incredulously stated he did not identify himself because he did not want to scare [the man],” the complaint read.

Judge: ‘He knew full well’

On Friday, Nelson told Galler before hearing his sentence that he did not intend for his report to be false or misleading. He said, “I believe everybody knew I made the calls. I also believe that if anybody was aware and had an issue, they would come and talk to me and they would address that, because that was how things happened at Oakdale Police Department. We were able to amend our reports.”

Galler said he believed Nelson was “still minimizing” what he did.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is information that should have been included initially in the report, not waiting to see if somebody might catch it and ask later to amend a report,” he said. “It seems pretty clear to me that that’s what happened here, and I think he knew full well that he should have included this initially. That’s what I conclude, based on what I heard and based upon the jury’s finding.”