Arrest overshadows Cuba, U.S. migration talks
- Submitted by: manso
- Politics and Government
- 01 / 08 / 2011
(AHN) Reporter:Tom Ramstack.Washington, D.C.United States.Published:January 7, 2011 03:27 pm EST. Cuban and American diplomats plan to meet again next week to figure out whether they can relax the travel and migration ban between the two countries. Thawing relations between the two Cold War-era enemies has been a campaign promise set forth by President Barack Obama.
But after the arrest of an American contractor last year in Havana, diplomats say the chances of success for the negotiations are slim.
The meeting next week in Havana would be the fourth between U.S. and Cuban negotiators on migration issues since Obama took office.
Obama raised hopes that the five-decade embargo of Cuba would end when he said he would seek warmer relations with the island nation. Hopes for better relations stalled Dec. 3, 2009, when contractor Alan Gross was arrested at a Havana hotel.
Gross was working under a U.S. Agency for International Development contract to install Internet equipment in Cuba. The program is part of a State Department effort to promote economic and social development in underdeveloped countries.
The Cuban government said Gross was engaging in espionage intended to overthrow the communist government that took power in the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela called the arrest of Gross “a major concern” in U.S. relations with Cuba.
The contractor was accused of bringing illegal satellite communications equipment into the country. The Cubans said it was intended to help him in his spying activities.
Gross, 61, and the U.S. government deny the charges. Nevertheless, Gross remains in jail despite never being charged with a crime.
The agenda for the meeting next week calls for discussions on how to implement a 1994 agreement to manage an orderly migration of Cubans to the United States, also The State Department wants fewer restrictions on the movement of its diplomats within Cuba.
Source: //www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/
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