[:es]Cuba Calls on U.S. to Comply with Visa Commitment[:]

During a new round of migration talks in the U.S. capital, Cuba noted that it fully complies with its obligations with the letter and spirit of the signed agreements, and repeated its will to maintain and expand bilateral cooperation in that field.

Cuba also reiterated that the U.S. Government’s decision to suspend visa services at its embassy in Havana directly affects relations on migration and family ties between Cuba and U.S. citizens, and damages institutional exchanges and travels between the two countries.

In addition, Havana noted that the irregular emigration of Cubans exposes participants to become victims of human traffickers and groups linked to organized crime devoted to traffic people and other related crimes, according to a press release from the Cuban Embassy in the United States.

Once again, the visiting delegation, headed by the director general of the U.S. Department at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, expressed concern about the Cuban Adjustment Act, a regulation that continues to promote traffickers and irregular migrants, the text warned.

According to the information, its force responds to political motivations and, along with other U.S. regulations, it conspires against the objective of guaranteeing regular, safe and orderly migration, according to the agreements signed by the two countries.

The two delegations highlighted the benefits of the Joint Declaration penned on January 12, 2017, and specifically the elimination of the dry feet-wet feet policy and the Parole Protgram for Cuban Medical Professionals in the reduction of irregular migration from Cuba to the United States.

Likewise, they agreed on the usefulness of the meeting between Cuba’s Coast Guard Troops and the U.S. Coast Guard Service in January 2018, and the technical meeting on human trafficking and migration fraud in December 2017.

The Cuban delegation and the hosts, headed by the coordinator of the Cuban Affairs Office at the Department of State, Gabriel Escobar, also discussed the possibilities to continue to foster bilateral cooperation to prevent the perpetrators of those crimes from remaining unpunished.

For its part, the U.S. Department of State pointed out in a communiqué that these talks provide a forum for the two countries to review and coordinate their efforts to guarantee safe, legal and orderly migration. (Prensa Latina)