MIAMI: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Cuba accepted an offer of $100 million in aid but that it was unclear if Washington would agree to Havana’s terms. Cuba has publicly only said that it was reviewing the offer made by Rubio and tensions have risen after the United States on Wednesday indicted the country’s influential former president Raul Castro on murder charges. “They say they’ve accepted it. We’ll see if that means it” will work out, Rubio told reporters in his home city of Miami as he left for a NATO meeting in Sweden.

The United States and Cuba held talks this week on a US offer of $100 million in assistance, which Washington has dangled as an incentive for reforms, a US official said Tuesday.

The U.S. discussed a $100 million aid offer to Cuba, aimed at supporting reforms through charities, not the government.

Havana acusa Marco Rubio de mentir de maneira inescrupulosa; ajuda será distribuída por Igreja ou ONGs