On November 10 the U.S.-Cuba Bilateral Commission held its second meeting, this time in Washington, D.C.[1]
Before addressing specific topics of possible agreement, the Cuban delegation reiterated its insistence “on the necessity to lift the [U.S. embargo] blockade as a top priority, for it continues to affect the Cuban people as well as Cuba’s operations and relations with third countries, given its extraterritorial scope, and hinders the development of normal economic and commercial relations with the United States. Likewise, the Cuban delegation reiterated that the elimination of this policy is essential for the normalization of relations, in addition to the solution of other pending problems that are harmful to the sovereignty of Cuba, such as the [alleged] illegal occupation of a portion of Cuban territory by the Guantánamo Naval Base, and the continuation of the illegal radio and television broadcasts from the United States to Cuba and the programs intended to destabilize and subvert Cuba’s constitutional order.”
After the meeting, Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s head of North American affairs, told reporters that agreements on flights, environmental protection, direct postal service and the fight against drug trafficking are very likely by the end of the year.
Granma, the Cuban newspaper, also reported that the Commission agreed to continue exchanges on human rights, maritime and port security, application and enforcement of law, climate change, migration, human trafficking and health (including confronting pandemics and infectious diseases).
The U.S. Department of State issued a similar report about this meeting. It said the meeting “provided an opportunity to review progress on shared priorities, including regulatory issues, telecommunications, claims, environmental protection, human trafficking, human rights, migration, and law enforcement,” The statement added that the meeting “took place in a respectful, cooperative, and productive environment.”
A Cuban diplomat said after the meeting that despite these areas of progress, commercial transactions between the two countries were impeded by U.S. restrictions on use of the U.S. Dollar in such transactions. Examples of this problem were the recent cancellations of several U.S. charter flights to Cuba because of the airlines difficulties in getting advance payments to Cuba for landing fees and mandatory health insurance for travelers. An observer thought this was due to U.S. banks’ fear of being subjected to large fines for illegal transfers and of uncertainties about the implementation of new U.S. regulations. [2]
The first Commission meeting was held in Havana this past September as discussed in a prior post. The next meeting will be next February in Havana.
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[1] U.S. State Dep’t, United States and Cuba Hold Second Bilateral Commission Meeting in Washington, D.C. (Nov. 10, 2015); Cuban Foreign Ministry, Press release issued by the Cuban delegation to the second meeting of the Cuba-US Bilateral Commission, Washington, November 10, 2015 (Nov. 10, 2015); Assoc. Press, Cuba: Agreements on flights to US Likely in Coming Months, N.Y. Times (Nov. 10, 2015); Reuters, Pact for U.S.-Cuba Flights Seen by Year-End: Cuban Official, N.Y. Times (Nov. 10, 2015); Gomez, Cuba and the United States come to concrete agreements, Granma (Nov. 10, 2015).
[2] Whitefield, Banking woes ground some charter flights to Cuba, Miami Herald (Nov. 8, 2015).