US resumes migration talks with Cuba
Published:Sunday | June 23, 2013 | 11:03 AM
WASHINGTON, June 23, CMC – The United States says it will resume migration talks with Cuba after a long suspension.
“Continuing to ensure secure migration between the US and Cuba is consistent with our interests in promoting greater freedoms and increased respect for human rights in Cuba,” said US Department of State spokesman William Ostick in a statement.
Ostick said that US and Cuban officials will meet here next month.
“I can confirm that on July 17, representatives of the Department of State are scheduled to meet with representatives of the government of Cuba to discuss migration issues,” he said.
The twice-annual migration talks were suspended under President George Bush in 2003, but resumed by the Obama administration in 2009.
They were again suspended last year after US defense sub-contractor, Alan Gross, was arrested and subsequently sentenced by a Cuban court on espionage charges.
Cuba jailed Gross for 15years for giving Cuban Jews “sophisticated communications equipment” in an attempt to topple the communist regime.
The Obama administration has said that relations with Havana will not improve unless Gross is freed.
The administration has also rejected a Cuban offer to swap Gross’s release with the release of four Cubans currently serving prison terms for espionage.