Teresa Welsh
The second round of talks with Cuba will focus exclusively on restoring diplomatic relations, the State Department said Wednesday. A senior State Department official said the administration expects to fully establish embassies before human rights discussions will take place.
“The human rights dialogue is the first such open conversation that we’re going to have with the Cuban government. It is quite honestly premised on having diplomatic relations,” said the official, who briefed reporters on the upcoming talks. “That’s what comes first.”
The Cuban delegation is led by Josefina Vidal, director-general of the U.S. division of Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will spend most of Friday at the State Department with the U.S. delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs Roberta Jacobson. The two will focus on the logistics of opening embassies in both countries, conversations that began last month in Havana. The current U.S. interests section building there will become the embassy.
President Barack Obama announced in December that the U.S. and Cuba would being the process of establishing formal ties. This includes the opening of embassies, examining Cuba’s place on the U.S.’s state sponsor of terrorism list and increasing telecommunications and economic ties. The new policy does not include the formal lifting of the embargo against Cuba, an action that can only be taken by Congress.
The senior State Department official said that the process of removing Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list was ongoing and involved several offices within the department. The official declined to provide a target date for when the administration expected the review to be complete.
“These processes tend to be a little more complicated than they seem,” the official said.
The department also declined to provide a formal timeline for when full diplomatic relations would be restored and embassies would be operational, but negotiators hoped to “get as far as possible” Friday. It also said the terrorism sponsor review and the establishment of diplomatic relations were being treated as two separate issues.
Assistant Director for the U.S. at the Cuban Foreign Ministry Gustavo Machin said Cuba wants the embassies to be opened before the Summit of the Americas, which will be held in Panama in April. He told local media that his delegation was heading to the talks in Washington with a "constructive spirit."
Members of Congress have objected to restoration of ties, which was initiated without input from legislators. Those who oppose the move say the U.S. is rewarding President Raul Castro, whom they brand a dictator, for human rights abuses. The administration contends that an opening of ties will give the U.S. greater leverage for positive democratic influence on the island.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Foreign Operations that U.S. support for democratic reform and human rights was “unequivocal.”
“[T]he change that we are making, we believe, actually assists the United States to be able to promote the democracy and the rights that we want for the people of Cuba,” Kerry said. “It will also make it harder for those who want to close the door to blame America for what is happening there, and we believe, in the end, can help create accountability for the hardships that those folks live under.”
The senior State Department official said the department hoped to discuss Friday with the Cuban delegation dates for future talks on human rights.
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