U.S. Resumes Migration Talks With Cuba

WASHINGTON, D.C., CMC – The United States says it has resumed migration talks with Cuba, marking the first time since January 2011 that the periodic talks have been held.

U.S. and Cuban officials met here, last week, to discuss the implementation of the 1994 and 1995 US-Cuba Migration Accords.

Under the Accords, both governments pledge to promote safe, legal, and orderly migration from Cuba to the United States.

“The agenda for the talks reflected longstanding U.S. priorities on Cuba migration issues,” said a release from the State Department, which added that the U.S. delegation “highlighted areas of successful cooperation in migration,” including advances in aviation safety and visa processing.

The talks also identified actions needed “to ensure that the goals of the accords are fully met, especially those having to do with safeguarding the lives of intending immigrants.”

During the talks, the U.S. delegation also reiterated its call for the immediate release of Alan Gross, a U.S. defense sub-contractor imprisoned in Cuba since December 3, 2009.

The Cuban government said Gross is jailed for espionage and trying to undermine the revolution, but the U.S. said he is imprisoned “solely for trying to facilitate communications between Cuba’s citizens and the rest of the world.”

The U.S. delegation was led by Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Alex Lee, while the Cuban delegation was led by the Foreign Ministry’s Director General for U.S. Affairs, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro.