Cuba-USA to Resume Negotiations Next Week
The second round of talks will take place in Washington DC
HAVANA TIMES — US Senator Mark Warner said today that the next round of negotiations between the Obama and Raul Castro administrations to resume bilateral diplomatic relations will be held next week in Washington D.C. capital, reported dpa news.
Later in the day the US State Dept. confirmed that the talks will be held on Friday February 27.
“We are hopeful of the meetings next week in Washington between the Cuban government and the US State Department,” said Warner during a visit to Havana along with Senators Amy Klobuchar and Claire McKaskill, all of the Democratic Party.
The two countries opened negotiations on January 21-22 in Havana in an unprecedented dialogue to resume diplomatic ties after more than half a century of rupture.
“We know that the next step is the embassies,” said Klobuchar, on the planned reopening of legations in both capitals. The two governments are working to lift restrictions, said the Minnesota senator.
Cuba and the United States have interests sections in their respective capitals since the late ’70s, yet work with several movement restrictions for diplomats. Havana also has problems today to find a bank to carry its accounts in Washington.
“Both countries have to overcome old ways of thinking,” added Warner.
The three senators met in Havana with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and diplomat Josefina Vidal, who heads the Cuban delegation in the negotiations with the United States.
“We wanted to see for ourselves what is happening in Cuba since the historic announcement of December 17,” said Claire McKaskill, a senator from Missouri.
With the diplomatic thaw between the two countries, in recent weeks several US representatives and senators have visited the Caribbean island.
US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro surprised the world on December 17, when they announced that Washington and Havana would resume bilateral relations broken off by the US in 1961.
Both the U.S. and Canada have massive government , corporate and house hold debt. Cuba has little debt and this is why China – Saudia Arabia are investing in Cuba. Who provided the money for the Melia Marina Varadero complex that is costing over $ 700 million ?
You make it sound like a jolly game of cricket. The truth is these companies will use their strength and financial backing to put Cuban enterprises out of business and any they don’t manage to they will try and buy them up. Then they will siphon the profits out of the country. Conservatives just don’t seem to grasp this fact?
Sorry to upset your theory but i happen to like America and I also happen to like the Cuban people. I do not like the big guys keeping the little guys down. This has happened throughout history.
Resolver is something done of necessity and desperation.
I think it is safe to say that McDonalds will not follow Obama into the White House. But seriously, your problem isn’t with Mc Donald’s but with what it represents. Let mcDonalds open in Cuba. (In fact, despite our opinions, it probably will) Let the Cuban public decide whether or not it’s successful. If Cubans don’t eat there it will fold. By then again it really isn’t about what’s best for Cuba is it? …No, it’s all about your hate for the U.S.
Castro simply brought everyone down to the lowest common denominator. Thankfully my family and I are no longer there to see it… Painful as it is.
And I wouldn’t brag about your “family”
Gordon, don’t be a fool. Castro closed the wealth gap by making everyone POOR! There is no genius there, only destruction. Yes, there is an increasing wealth distribution problem in the US and elsewhere in the world. But the solution is not found by subtraction. Let’s work to make poor people better off without taking away from rich people.
My Cuban children are related by adoption to the former Vice President of Cuba – Dr. Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and directly related to the late Celia Sanchez and the late Sir John A. MacDonald. Both are going to enter Cuban politics after they cxomplete their education.
You might learn someting if you googled my Cuban – Canadian children’s relatives.
My point is the US has a huge gap between the few that are extremely rich and the vast majority which is similar to Cuba before Dr. Castro.
1. 18, mas o menos
2. Zero, that would claim me. Hahaha! Thank God!
3. I have read the same press reports that you are obviously excited about, so what?
4. Again, huh?
5. Public assistance in whatever form, be it corporate tax carry-forwards or food stamps, is a form of wealth distribution. It is a strategy that has its place in civil society.
Now, can you tell me what your point is?
In B.C. we trying very hard to encourage more Chinese tourists to visit our area and then do a trip to Cuba. At one time Cuba had 120,000 Chinese labours.
My questionsTo Moses :::
1. How many times have you visited Cuba in the past 22 years ?
2. How many children are you raising in Cuba ?
3. What % of Walmarts stock does Communist China own ?
4. What % of stock in Walmart is made in China ?
5. How many Americans / Puerto Ricans are on food stamps ?
Gordon, you were probably a C student in school, right? Yes, Chinese tourist, when traveling to the west, spend more money than do their US counterparts. This includes airfare which is more costly for the Chinese. Do you know why? It is because the relative few Chinese who do travel, albeit nominally a large number, can not buy certain luxury products in China or when available, are far more costly. Those Chinese who do travel to Cuba are not interested in Cuban ‘luxury’ goods, if such a thing exists. Chinese tourists stay together in guided groups and are famous for being CHEAP tippers. The profile of the Chinese tourist who visits Cuba is nothing to get excited about.
Burgerking and Tim Hortons – for Cuba – Si !!! Both are head quartered in Canada
Yeh but – China will put more people on planes in 2015 than their American counter parts. Chinese shoppers spend an average of US $ 1,137.00 per transaction in Britian each February. Cuba is adjusting their tourist industry to welcome tourists from China.
In 2013, Raul announced his intention to retire in five years time, in 2018. Unless you have some additional information, I’ll take Raul’s word on it.
However, when he does go, he will pass on the reigns of the regime to a trusted cadre of loyalists. Aside from the face of the dictator, nothing much else will change.
You would do well to better understand US indebtedness to China. The largest holders of US long-term debt remains US businesses and US citizens. Chinese debt-holders represent about 21% of outstanding long-term debt. These bondholders have chosen to invest in America’s future as a hedge against the risk of investing in their own long-term bonds. This is not called being “owned” by the Chinese. This is a vote of confidence in the safe haven of US debt. As the dollar continues to strengthen against foreign currencies, including the Chinese Yuan, this also continues to keep the price of Chinese goods cheap in comparison to US-manufactured products. The Chinese invests in US debt and real estate to improve their trade profile. What the Chinese are doing in Cuba, or would like to do is no favor to Cuba. Just do a little reading about how Chinese businesses treat Chinese and Thai workers. Cubans will not be able to form unions, will not have quality work conditions and will see the greatest profit from their labors leave Cuba. Finally, name one country in China’s history, other than the US, that has benefitted from their relationship with China. Name one.
Are you kidding? That ‘attitude’ you have exalted usually translates to theft of State property, hustling tourists, or short-changing fellow Cubans. The LAST thing the US needs to emulate from Cuban behavior is the infamous RESOLVER.
China rules both the U.S.A. and Cuba :::
The USA and Cuba are both indebted to Communist China to keep their
economies functioning in a stable and peaceful like manner. The Chinese
want to put manufacturing plants in Cuba due to location a very well
educated youth and lack of debt at all levels. Cuba has no under funded
pensions and has excellent health and dental care provided by the state .
A key to manufacturing in Cuba is direct access to the U.S. market so the embargo
must end. The new $ 1 billion Mariel container port hub / duty free
zone along with the new $ 700 million Melia Marina Varadero with a
resort complex are all part of the big picture. Cuba’s future in the new
world economy will will shortly lead the western world in expansion.
Those Cubans that have multi language skills will do a great deal
better than those that only spreak Spanish. The skilled trades persons
will also do very well in the new Cuban market economy.
Cubans with
entrepreneur skills and drive will lead Cuba in both business and
politics.The new Cuban business of politics is critical to the countries
success in the current world economy. This is a fact that is not
debateable.
Gordon Robinson [email protected]
This meeting reminds me of a SHOGUN wedding demanded by Communist China.
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By definition? According to whom? Merriam-Webster defines totalitarian as: of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism). This is nothing like what we have in the US. You should stop just making crap up in your head.
I would advise the Cuban negotiators to be very careful in their negotiations with the Americans. Who is going to follow Obama into the white house? Please no McDonalds.
There is no candidate for national office who does not first have to get the backing of enough very rich people and corporations to ensure a successful national election campaign .
No candidate who has not come to terms with their legal bribers has a chance of nomination by his/her party since that person will not get the necessary funding to win .
When money controls a government, it is called an oligarchy which by definition is totalitarian .
While appearing before the US congress recently, the lead US diplomat on Cuba, Rebeca Jacobson, was asked which of the conditions for lifting the embargo, as laid out in US law, have been met by the Cuban government.
Jacobson was unable to answer the question. She admitted that she was not familiar with the conditions, and therefore had no idea which, if any, the Cuban government had met.
If this is the person the US government has hired to represent US interests in these negotiations, then the the US is in for a spectacular diplomatic failure.
My opinion is that we , here in the United States, have more to gain from improved relations than Cuba does. We could certainly use some of Cubans’ famous RESOLVER attitude here. 😉
The influence of money is a serious problem in large, open democracies like the US. Despite the inequities caused by money, the US political system is far from being intelligently described as “totalitarian”. Clearly you don’t understand what totalitarian means.
The Cuban Intersts Section in Washington has not been able to find a bank to handle its accounts for nearly a year affecting normal consular services. The new negotiations might change that situation.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107846
That Cuba can not find a bank seems odd given that MasterCard has announced it will start accepting credit payments in Cuba in March.
The U.S.. oligarchy (the government owned by the wealthy) is no more democratic in its ways of ruling from the top than is Cuba’s one-party system.
The two countries have totalitarian government in common and this ( totalitarian forms) should be something that Washington encourages in Cuba as it does and has for 100 years of its interventionist foreign policy rather than bitch about it.
Its an egregiously hypocritical position to take given the number of democracies the USA has overturned and the number of dictators it has installed and/or supported over the past 100 years or so.
( source: Killing Hope
both the book and the website )
Agree 100%. I do also believe that Raul will resign by the end of 2015.
Change, in my opinion, is inevitable!
Negotiations to open embassies should go smoothly. The only difference between an embassy and an Interests Section office is that an embassy is headed by an ambassador and in accordance with international norms, an ambassador is accorded the same protocol as the Head of State. This means that a US ambassador should be extended the same diplomatic access as a US President. Raul Castro should receive our ambassador as he would receive President Obama. The truth is that having an ambassador on station in Cuba should draw greater international press attention to Cuba. On this aspect alone, human rights violations are more likely to be monitored. The hard part is yet to come. If Raul remains stuck in his failed totalitarian political mud, he will find the warming of relations with the US nearly impossible.