Next week the United States and Cuba will resume a round of talks that they had been holding regularly since the thaw until 2018, when the Trump administration abruptly interrupted them.
These conversations are related to common bilateral issues: security, border control, the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism, human trafficking, maritime security and maintenance of expeditious and clear communications between agencies of the two countries, among others.
Two days ago, the Department of State communicated by email to Congress, as required by law, the holding of the bilateral meeting on January 18 and 19 in the Cuban capital. Apart from the Department of State, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the various entities in charge of immigration and the Department of Justice will participate for the United States, he confirmed to OnCuba a State Department official.
According to the source, it is a “necessary” meeting, of a “very technical” nature, in which the two parties present their own concerns, such as the deportations of Cubans; the mechanism to carry out the deportation flights (which are currently stopped); the fight against drug trafficking, in which the Coast Guard collaborates with the Cuban Border Guards and maintains “permanent communication.”
For Washington, these meetings facilitate the “application of its national security policies.” And the source specified: “for the moment I have not heard that this will lead to removing Cuba from the list of countries that support terrorism.” Getting off that list has been and is a permanent demand for Havana since Trump put it back there at the end of his term. But, he said, “you never know.”
“This type of dialogue enhances the national security of the United States through better international law enforcement coordination, which allows this country to better protect its citizens and bring transnational criminals to justice,” the spokesman said. of the State Department, Ned Price.
The official added: “this dialogue does not affect the continued focus of the administration on critical human rights issues in Cuba,” reported The Voice of America, official organ of the US government.
