The US, in another move aimed at thawing relations with Cuba, has offered to resume migration talks with the communist-ruled nation almost six years after they were suspended.
“We intend to use the renewal of talks to reaffirm both sides' commitment to face legal and orderly migration,” a US State Department official said on Friday.
The official, who asked not to be named, said Washington hoped the talks would “improve operational relations with Cuba on migration issues.”
The US and Cuba had carried out discussions on the issue every two years until they were suspended in 2003 by former president George W. Bush.
Washington is trying to facilitate reunification of Cubans who want to leave the country with family in the US, mainly in South Florida.
Since coming to office in January, US President Barack Obama has moved to repair ties with Cuban President Raul Castro, who officially took over the reins from older brother Fidel Castro last year.
Last month Obama lifted travel and money transfer restrictions on Americans with relatives in Cuba.
The new US administration has also acknowledged that Washington's Cuba policy has been a failure, but Obama has said he would not, for now, end the 47-year-old economic embargo on Cuba, instead urging Havana to show progress on human rights.
Raul Castro, for his part, said last month that Cuba will not make symbolic “gestures” to please the US, putting the onus of improving bilateral relations squarely on Washington.
A clutch of Cuban-American lawmakers from both parties immediately criticized the latest US expression of readiness to resume migration talks.
“This constitutes another unilateral concession by the Obama administration to the dictatorship,” Florida lawmakers Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart said in a statement.
Republican Senator Mel Martinez, also of Florida, was critical as well: “The US suspended talks due to the Castro regime's refusal to comply with critical elements of the Migration Accords.”
“The administration should insist on the regime's full compliance with the Migration Accords before re-opening formal talks,” Martinez said.
The 1995 Cuba-US Migration Accord between Havana and Washington says Cuban migrants to the US who are intercepted at sea should be sent back to Cuba or to a third country, while those who make it to US soil should be allowed to stay in the US.
The Florida lawmakers said Havana continues to violate the accord by “denying hundreds of exit permits” each year to Cuban nationals who have received visas to enter the US.
Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, said the Obama administration “gesture will probably be well-received by the Castro brothers since it provides them with a perception of legitimacy and gives them the attention they seek.”
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
RSS