The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday that the Biden administration intends to send a delegation to Havana this month to resume negotiations on law enforcement issues between the United States and Cuba that were put on hold under former President Donald Trump.
One of the topics discussed will be U.S. concerns about counterterrorism, according to a State Department spokesperson. Before his presidency ended in January 2021, Trump added Cuba to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, and the Biden administration has been reviewing this since taking office.
The meeting will be the first of its kind since the law-enforcement dialogue, which was initiated in 2015 by the late President Barack Obama, was terminated in 2018 by President Donald Trump as part of his historic reversal of his predecessor’s detente with Communist-ruled Cuba.
While beginning to reverse some of President Trump’s policies, Joe Biden has maintained others, insisting that the Cuban government must do more to uphold human rights.
The State Department spokesperson said in a statement that this kind of dialogue ‘improves international law enforcement coordination, which enables the United States to better protect U.S. citizens and bring transnational criminals to justice.’
However, the official went on to say that ‘the administration’s continued focus on important human rights issues in Cuba is unaffected by this dialogue.’
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