Cuba and the U.S.A. to Meet Again to Weigh up Progress in Normalization of Ties

HAVANA, Cuba, May 12 (acn) Representatives of Cuba and the United States will meet in this capital on Monday, May 16, to take stock of progress in the process towards normalization of ties, announced at a press conference Gustavo Machin, deputy director general of the Cuban Foreign Ministry's United States Department.

In this third meeting of the Cuba-U.S. Bilateral Commission., delegations will review the realization of some of the agreements reached since this mechanism of work, created in August 2015, met for the first time.
Machin asserted that the parties will also make an assessment of the 17 months elapsed since the historic announcements made by Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama in December 2014.
We have had results, pointed out Machin referring to progress made, especially in the political and diplomatic area, since there were three meetings between the two presidents, Obama visited Cuba, and high-level meetings have also taken place.
He said that progress has been slower in the economic-commercial sphere because the blockade is still in force and multiple prohibitions and restrictions on imports of U.S. products and a great fear in the U.S. banking sector to have contacts with Cuba persist.
While interviewed by CAN, he said there is no definite date for the reestablishment of direct flights between the two territories and that the Department of Transportation of the United States is dealing with the technical process so later airlines negotiate with their Cuban counterpart.
The diplomat expressed that even though the U.S. government approved that Cuba uses dollars in its international financial transactions, none has materialized, and emphasized that the United States should give more guarantees, including a legal document that guarantees banks they won't be penalized for processing transactions with the island.
The normalization of bank relations currently goes through the decision of the United States to authorize Cuban banks to have correspondent accounts in banks of that nation, which will allow a substantial increase of exchanges, since today all transactions have to go through banks in third countries, added the deputy director general.
He stated that cooperation with the U.S. government on issues such as aviation security, the fight against drug trafficking and immigration fraud has increased and new horizons were opened with regard to the environment, the implementation and enforcement of law and agriculture.
Nine agreements on the environment; mail service; direct regular flights; safety in maritime navigation; agriculture and security of travelers; and trade and telecommunications have been signed.
However, specified Gustavo Machin, even more progress could made if the blockade affecting the development of the Cuban people and also U.S. citizens and companies and citizens of the world was eliminated.
He emphasized that President Obama has enough prerogatives to continue to dismantle this unjust measure and reiterated that Cuba will continue to advance in bilateral relations on the basis of respect, equality and reciprocity by way of a frank and professional dialogue.
Josefina Vidal, director general of the United States Department of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Kristie Kenney, advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, will preside over the delegations that will define the steps towards new mutually beneficial agreements, technical meetings in areas of common interest, and exchanges on issues of bilateral and multilateral interest.
Machin announced that, during the meeting of the Bilateral Commission, high-level visits that will soon take place will be agreed and that continuity will be given to the process towards normalization of relations.
Cuba will reiterate at the third meeting of the Bilateral Commission the need to lift the blockade, to return to Cuba the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base, and to eliminate other policies detrimental to Cuban sovereignty, which will be reiterated by the Cuban delegation as essential so that there are normal relations between Cuba and the United States.