Press release Cuban delegation
Washington, April 16, 2024.- On April 16, 2024, representatives of Cuba and the United States held bilateral migration talks in Washington DC. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío Domínguez led the Cuban delegation and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Eric Jacobstein led the U.S. delegation.
During the meeting, the parties reviewed the state of compliance with the bilateral Migration Agreements, whose texts include the mutual commitment to guarantee regular, safe and orderly migration.
The Cuban delegation reaffirmed its willingness to comply with and respect, as it has done up to now, the commitments established and reiterated its concern about the policies and measures to encourage irregular migration that remain in force by political decision of the U.S. government.
Cuba emphatically denounced the negative impact that the economic blockade of the United States and its extreme reinforcement applied since 2019 exert on the socioeconomic conditions of the Cuban population, a factor that constitutes an important incentive for migration. In this regard, the country's permanence on the so-called List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, the preferential treatment still received by Cubans who enter U.S. territory illegally and the validity of the Cuban Adjustment Act were highlighted.
The Cuban delegation reiterated the importance of re-establishing the processing of non-immigrant visas at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, a consular facility that would prevent the transfer to third countries of Cuban citizens interested in this type of visa.
Cuba insisted on the importance of compliance with bilateral migration agreements in their entirety and not selectively, and reaffirmed its willingness to continue the rounds of talks on migration with the United States.
Embassy of Cuba / Cubaminrex/ EmbaCuba Sierra Leona