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Panama City, April 21.- US Secretary of National Security Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed his administration’s willingness to review and re-enact bilateral agreements with Cuba, as the island denounced Washington’s dereliction of duty on the matter.
At a press conference at the end of a regional meeting in Panama on irregular migration, Administration Official Joe Biden, who is attending that meeting along with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, responded that he did not want to prejudge the official talks that both governments will support today.
Responding to a question from CNN, Mayorkas said: “We have had migration agreements with Cuba for many years, but they have been suspended, but there is a willingness to review and reactivate these agreements based on a commitment to orderly, safe and humanitarian migration. “
Those talks will take place before May 23, when Title 42 is lifted, a measure that allows for the expeditious deportation of migrants protected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been in effect since 2020.
According to Cuban Foreign Ministry authorities, it is important to respect these agreements signed in the 1990s, otherwise they will lead to migratory spikes caused by the resurgence of unilateral coercive measures imposed by Washington against the Caribbean nation and by obstacles to the services of the Consular offices in the US are reinforced largest of the Antilles.
In this regard, the island’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal, told the press in Havana that to deal with this situation, the United States is supporting the region’s economic and social systems, but in the case of Cuba, it is exerting maximum pressure on the economic order.
It is an incoherent and differentiated policy, the official said.
Regarding visa obstacles for those wishing to travel to the United States, the diplomat pointed out that her country sees no justification for not granting all visas to Cuban emigrants in Havana and forcing most Cubans to move with them the Associated costs.
He also reiterated that along with the five-year consular standstill, the United States is violating the 1990s accord, forcing it to issue at least 20,000 visas a year.
He also denounced Washington’s pressure on countries in the region to set specific travel requirements for Cubans in transit, creating additional obstacles.
Tomorrow, Thursday, the Cuban and US authorities will resume rounds of talks on migration issues, which were paralyzed in 2018 during the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021). (PL) (Photo: Cubadebate)