Cuba and the United States held here the first meeting of the bilateral commission promoting rapprochement between the two countries, a mechanism qualified as unprecedented in recent decades. The instrument activated by Havana and Washington last August 14, during the visit of Secretary of State John Kerry to the island defined Friday its functions, scope, frequency of meetings and issues to be addressed by both parties.
Cuba and the United States held here the first meeting of the bilateral commission promoting rapprochement between the two countries, a mechanism qualified as unprecedented in recent decades. The instrument activated by Havana and Washington last August 14, during the visit of Secretary of State John Kerry to the island defined Friday its functions, scope, frequency of meetings and issues to be addressed by both parties.
This is a monitoring mechanism for the follow-up of the proposed work in the short term, which we had never had, told Prensa Latina the head of the Cuban delegation, Josefina Vidal, during an encounter with journalists to provide details of what happened.
The commission will be responsible for monitoring and guiding of the next stage of approach, a process announced on December 17 by Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, which allowed the resumption of diplomatic ties and the reopening of embassies last July.
In this regard, Vidal said the mechanism will not be responsible for the discussion of specific issues, which corresponds to experts and work groups.
The missions are those of guiding the work and stimulating the scope of the objectives, which may manifest themselves in various ways, such as agreements, arrangements, joint declarations or memoranda of understanding, he said.
According to the Cuban delegation, yesterday's meeting took place in a professional, respectful and constructive climate, which allowed setting the topics to be dealt with.
Vidal said that a first set of issues deals with the bilateral cooperation in fields of mutual interest, especially environmental protection, disaster prevention, health, civil aviation and the implementation and enforcement of the law, including combating drug and people trafficking.
A second group comprises issues of bilateral nature, in which the two countries differ in terms of concepts, including human trafficking and human rights, and other of multilateral impact, such as climate change and coping with epidemics and pandemics it was said.
The third section is devoted to solving the issues that have no solution yet, with emphasis initially on compensation.
Cuba demands compensations for the human and economic damage to the people of the island by the policies pursued for over five decades from Washington, with the economic, commercial and financial blockade as spearhead of hostility towards the island.
Meanwhile, there are claims in the US for the American properties nationalized after the triumph of the Revolution of January 1, 1959.
At the meeting, the host delegation reiterated the necessity of lifting the blockade, the return of the occupied naval base in Guantanamo territory, an ending the illegal radio and television transmissions, and the elimination of subversive programs against Cuba, keys for the existence of normal bilateral ties.
The next committee meeting will take place in November in Washington. Vidal added the intention is to alternate venues in Havana and the US capital, as happened during the stage of talks that led to the restoration of diplomatic ties.
The US delegation at the meeting yesterday was headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs from the State Department, Edward Alex Lee.
The visitors did not issue statements after the meeting, qualified on Thursday as 'a logistics meeting' by the State Department's spokesman, John Kirby.
Source: PL