The U.S. and Cuba are digging into the nitty-gritty of completing the process of normalizing relations started almost exactly a year ago after 50 years of estrangement.
On Tuesday, Cuban and American officials will meet in Havana to discuss various legal claims for the first time.
“These include claims of U.S. nationals that were certified by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, claims related to unsatisfied U.S. court judgments against Cuba and claims of the United States government,” the State Department stated on Monday. “The government of Cuba has also raised claims against the United States related to the embargo.
“The meeting is the first step in what we expect to be a long and complex process, but the United States views the resolution of outstanding claims as a top priority for normalization,” the department stated.
Most of the U.S. claims against Cuba involve Cuba’s expropriation of property during the revolution. Under U.S. law, those property claims, now worth several billion dollars, must be settled before the two sides can normalize relations. But Cuba has tried to offset those claims by making counterclaims of billions of dollars in damages due to the embargo, which was put in place largely as a reaction to Cuba’s expropriation.
The legal negotiations follow a second round of talks regarding drug trafficking and separate discussions about Cuban migrants held in Washington last week.
U.S. officials told their counterparts that they are concerned about “the safety of the thousands of Cuban migrants transiting through Central America,” the State Department stated.
“The meeting provided an opportunity to review progress on shared priorities and to identify mechanisms to continue narrowing our differences,” the agency stated. “As with any bilateral relationship, there were some areas of disagreement, but it took place in a respectful, cooperative, and productive environment.”
Such discussions over implementing the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords are held twice annually.
Many members of Congress, particularly Cuban-American lawmakers and members of the Florida delegation, still oppose fully normalizing relations with the communist nations and reopening tourism between the neighboring countries.
