Georgetown: A top visiting U.S. State Department official began talks with the Cuban government this week after a hiatus of 38 years since any top official visited Havana, according to President of Guyana Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM) Haleem Khan.
Khan who has been an ardent advocate for development within Cuban said one of the topics the US is set to discuss is the global health security with collaborative efforts on Ebola.
Re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba is a key step for the implementation of changes in the U.S.-Cuba relationship announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014.
Underscoring that the Cuban people’s access to greater resources and information and policy change seeks to promote respect for human rights and adherence to democratic principles in Cuba, Khan said
President Obama, in his annual State of The Union address insisted that the US shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. As such the US Congress is being urged to begin the work of ending the embargo. Obama has the executive authority to restore diplomatic ties but needs the Republican-controlled Congress to lift the economic embargo.
He explained that both sides are also expected to outline longer-term goals. While Cuba will seek the repeal of Washington’s 53-year-old economic embargo and ask to be removed from the U.S. list of state
sponsors of terrorism, the Americans will press the one-party state for greater human rights.
The GCSM president further explained that Cuba isn’t normalizing relations with the United States. Cuba is re-establishing diplomatic relations with the United States. The normalization of relations is a much longer process and much more complicated process. Normal relations would require the United States to lift the embargo and remove Cuba from terrorism list.
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