How negotiations stand between Cuba and the U.S.

Barely one year and a half after the announcement of a decision to initiate a process aimed at normalizing relations between Cuba and the United States, it becomes convenient to do a balance of that process, inasmuch as people’s perception often ranges from the opinion that everything has been resolved to the assertion that almost nothing has moved forward — and the answer does not seem to be at either extreme.

Sometimes, one is surprised by the swift evolution of negotiations on certain issues. Diplomatic relations were reestablished; accords were formalized on 10 areas of common interest, and negotiations on dozens of others look promising. This demonstrates the existence of a complementarity determined by our nature as neighbors and other international exigencies.

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http://progresoweekly.us/negotiations-stand-cuba-u-s/

US Opening to Cuba Is Irreversible, Says Assistant to President Obama

The reestablishment of relations between Cuba and the United States is irreversible and the legislative restrictions are likely to be lifted by the Congress, the Assistant to President Barack Obama Ben Rhodes said.

Obama deputy national security adviser made this statement during a forum on cultural diplomacy with Cuba, held at the Meridian International Center.

According to the Washington Post, Rhodes said that the fact of the matter was that the US people and the Cuban people overwhelmingly want this to happen.

Frankly, whatever the political realities in either country, for somebody to try to turn this off, they would have to be working against the overwhelming desires of their own people, he added.

The White House official recalled that a strong majority of the US public, according to a wade range of opinion polls, favored restoring relations long before it happened.

According to recent surveys, more than 70 percent of US citizens support lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for over half a century.

(Prensa Latina)

Press Release issued by the Cuban Delegation to the Third Meeting of the Cuba-US Bilateral Commission

The third meeting of the Cuba-US Bilateral Commission was held in Havana on May 16, 2016.

The Cuban delegation was headed by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Director-General of the US Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, and the US delegation was headed by Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Counselor of the State Department, and John S. Creamer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

During the meeting, both delegations reviewed the implementation of the agreements adopted at the second meeting of this Commission as well as the results achieved in the course of the last six months.

Both delegations highlighted the increase of official visits in both directions, including the one paid by President Barack Obama to Havana in March, 2016; as well as of the technical meetings held to discuss topics of common interest and the bilateral instruments signed in order to expand mutually beneficial cooperation between Cuba and the United States.

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http://cubaeeuu.cubaminrex.cu/article/press-release-issued-cuban-delegation-third-meeting-cuba-us-bilateral-commission-havana-may

Third Meeting of Cuba-USA Commission To Be Held in Havana

The third meeting of the Cuba-USA Bilateral Commission will be held in this capital on May 16 to review the development of relations between the two countries, the Cuban Foreign Ministry announced.

This working group, formed in the wake of the visit paid to Cuba by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Aug.14, 2015, held its first meeting on September 11 in Havana and a second meeting on Nov.10 in Washington D.C.

Gustavo Machin, Assistant Director for US Affairs in Cuba Foreign Ministry (Minrex), said this will be a bright opportunity to review the agreements of the previous meeting.

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http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4874071&Itemid=1

The Cuban-American hard-line bravado banishes into thin air

Gloating is a base emotion but one entirely called for in this instance. They ignored us, our Cuban-American members of Congress. For decades, those of us in the Cuban community who traveled to Washington to try to get them to have a conscience, see reason, understand what they were doing to the Cuban people ran into a stone wall.

They humiliated us by sending the most junior staff to meet with us. They called press conferences to vilify us, to red-bait us. Back home they tried to intimidate us. They retaliated. Not openly but effectively. Some pressured our employers, made us lose jobs, careers. They were fanatical and ferocious.

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http://progresoweekly.us/cuban-american-hard-line-bravado-banishes-thin-air/

Obama and the Cuban economy: Understanding what wasn’t said

I had the chance to participate in various meetings with the delegation that accompanied President Obama [to Cuba] and hear him speak three times; and now I feel a need to share my interpretation of what he said, and also what he didn’t say— since in politics what is left out is often as important as what is said.

There are two complementary angles from which to interpret both this visit and the entire process of attempting to normalize relations: what they mean for assessing the past, and what they mean as we move towards the future.

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http://en.cubadebate.cu/opinions/2016/04/07/obama-and-cuban-economy-understanding-what-wasnt-said/

Cuba Stresses that End of Blockade Must Be US Unilateral Action

The lifting of the blockade must be a unilateral action of the United States, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said today in a telephone interview with Ecuadorian public media.

According to Rodriguez, the end of economic, financial, and trade sanctions imposed by Washington against Cuba for more than five decades could be the result of a negotiation, or in response to concessions made by the Cuban government.

Cuba do not impose a blockade against the United States, nor apply any discriminatory measures against US companies, or US citizens, Rodriguez recalled, who also warned that despite recent executive measures adopted by President Barack Obama, the blockade continues to be a suffocating reality.

Concerning these measures, he noted that the president’s decision to authorize the use of the US dollar in transactions with Cuba has been a mere announcement, because Cuban banks are still prevented from opening accounts in the northern country.

I can assure you that there are no normal financial transactions at this moment, he added.

He also warned that Washington keeps intact its strategic objectives to economically and politically dominate Cuba, quoting as an example the opening in the field of telecommunications, and the financial support to private sector, which only aims at constructing an opposition to the government.

(Prensa Latina)

Minnesota Businesses Looking to Increase Opportunities in Cuba

Minnesota is trying to take the lead when it comes to relations with Cuba.

Our business community is starting what they call an “Engage Cuba Coalition.” The organization is a way to strengthen ties to the country even though the travel and trade embargo remains in place.

There are 11 million people in Cuba just 90 miles off our shores. According to U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, 80 percent of their food is imported including some from Minnesota.

“As we look at things they cannot grow there certainly from a Midwest perspective corn and soybeans or value added. Instead of that raw commodity let’s export the meats,” Kevin Paap of the Minnesota Farm Bureau said.

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http://kstp.com/news/minnesota-business-cuba-opportunities-food-klobuchar/4087723/

State Dept. project looks suspiciously like an infiltration plan

Are the State Department and the White House on the same wavelength? Do they coexist in the same government? The same city? The same constellation?

The question comes up because, less than a week after President Barack Obama personally assured his Cuban counterpart, Raúl Castro Ruz, that Washington has neither the capacity nor the intention to impose change on Cuba” and that the United States “will not impose our political or economic system on you,” the State Department has announced that it will give some enterprising U.S. organization $753,989 to train as many as 30 “young emerging leaders from Cuban civil society” […] “to manage and grow civil society organizations that will actively support democratic principles in Cuba” — exactly the kind of governance that Havana does not want shoved down its throat.

We are indebted to journalist Tracy Eaton and his blog “Along the Malecón” for publishing the text of the announcement, released on Friday (March 25) and promptly disseminated by the official websites Granma.cu and Cubadebate.cu.

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http://progresoweekly.us/state-dept-project-looks-suspiciously-like-infiltration-plan/

An assessment of Barack Obama’s visit

Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba has just ended. The president had an opportunity to address the Cuban people broadly, to display his charm and draw the attention of the international media, taking advantage of the event’s historical significance.

Desirous not to give the impression that the visit was “a honeymoon” with the U.S. president, Cuba’s official treatment was respectful but distant. However, the population expressed itself in a warmer manner, especially when Obama strolled through the streets of Havana and imposed his undeniable charisma.

It is not surprising that Obama awakened the sympathy of the Cuban people. It has happened everywhere else in the world, ever since he assumed his post. The reasons are not only attributable to his personality; the content of his ideas is also important.

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http://progresoweekly.us/assessment-barack-obamas-visit/