Cuba and the U.S.A. to Hold Talks Next Week on Human Rights

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 26 (acn) Representatives of the governments of Cuba and the United States will hold talks on human rights on March 31 in Washington, announced in this capital Pedro Luis Pedroso, deputy director general of the Office of Multilateral Affairs and International Law of the island's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The official said the Cuban party expects a constructive dialogue, without conditions, on a reciprocal basis, with respect for the sovereign equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of each nation.
In this context, Cuba will talk about its achievements with respect to human rights, as illustrated in the last exercise of periodic review of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
"We have goals to reach, like all nations, but we will set out the recognition of the international community to the important achievements of Cuba in the areas of education, health, access to cultural rights and also the island's contribution to the development of many other countries where we have been present with cooperation," stressed Pedroso.
The representative of the Foreign Ministry said that the Cuban delegation will also raise concerns about human rights in the United States and other places where that country has an impact.
"We have profound differences with the U.S. government, but these talks are a sign of Cuba's willingness to dialogue with the U.S. on any topic, always on the basis of equality and reciprocity," pointed out Pedroso.
As the Foreign Ministry had informed, Cuba proposed the United States in July 2014 to hold talks on human rights, a matter that was reiterated in January this year as part of the round of talks held in Havana where the island expressed its concerns about the guarantee and protection of human rights in the U.S.
To the talks in Washington on February 27, Cuba took a concrete proposal to address this issue bilaterally, on equal terms and with respect for the sovereignty of peoples, which is concreted with the talks of next week.
These meetings are part of the talks between the two governments, after the political decision to restore relations announced by presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama on December 17, which as already reiterated, will be a slow process that will take time.
Cuba and the United States are taking steps to reestablish the diplomatic bonds broken more than half a century ago, but the normalization of relations will be a much longer and complex process that will first go through the lifting the economic, commercial and financial blockade of that government against the island, as reiterated by the Cuban government.