CUBA-USA/NEGOTIATIONS US, Cuba entering "complex" phase of normalisation, says Cuban negotiator

Record ID: 147469

  • Title: CUBA-USA/NEGOTIATIONS US, Cuba entering "complex" phase of normalisation, says Cuban negotiator
  • Date: 12th July 2015
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.S. SPECIAL INTERESTS HEADQUARTERS IN CUBA
  • Embargoed: 27th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACGBM275A5KOKX4BUZIEOMTU5C
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Cuba and the United States are on the cusp of a difficult second phase of the normalisation of relations, Havana's chief negotiator Josefina Vidal announced on Saturday (July 11).
    Late last month, the former Cold War foes formally agreed to restore diplomatic relations on July 20, setting up a trip to Havana by Secretary of State John Kerry, who would become the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the country in 70 years.
    An exchange of letters between both nations set a date of July 20 for the re-establishment of relations, and embassies could be opened at that time or later.
    But with diplomatic relations set to be restored, the United States and Cuba will turn to more difficult bilateral problems which may take years to resolve.
    Cuba's Communist government said in a statement that to have normal relations, the United States must rescind its economic embargo and return the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which it has leased since 1903, as sovereign Cuban territory.
    Obama, a Democrat, has asked the Republican-controlled Congress to lift the 53-year-old embargo, but the conservative leadership in Congress has resisted.
    Vidal said the sensitive issues which remain on the table have accumulated over the decades.
    "On July 20, we'll be closing the first phase of the process we started with the United States. From that time on, we'll be starting work on this second phase which we have called "the process towards the normalisation of relations". This will take time because we have to address issues that are very complex, which have accumulated over five decades. We have to resolve (them) so that we can say one day that relations between the United States and Cuba are normal," she said.
    Public opinion polls in the U.S. show majority support for engaging with Cuba, even among Cuban-Americans who had historically been firm supporters of the embargo.
    Secretary of State Kerry reportedly will raise the U.S. flag outside the future U.S. embassy, currently an interests section.
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