Talks between U.S. and Cuban officials continued on Friday, as both sides discussed various issues, including the reopening of embassies in both countries that were shuttered more than half a century ago.
Delegations for this latest round of talks were led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson and Josefina Vidal, the general director of Cuba’s U.S. Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Following Friday’s meeting, Assistant Secretary Jacobson participated in a press conference at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center in Washington. Here is what she had to say on:
The progress of these talks
My own view, and I think my delegation certainly shares this, is that it isn’t a lack of measurable progress. Each time we have met we have made progress. We made progress this time, and the truth is that you, in the end, inevitably come to some tough issues before you get agreement. But we made great progress and I remain optimistic that we will conclude, but we still have a few things that need to be ironed out and we’re going to do that as quickly as possible.
A U.S. embassy in Havana
We’ve gotten closer each time we talk, but we’re still talking about various aspects of the functioning of an embassy. But we have gotten much closer than we were each time we talk. So that’s really as far as I can go today in terms of specifics.
… There are various circumstances in which embassies operate in somewhat restrictive environments. And so all I can say at this point is we have confidence that when we get to an agreement, our embassy will be able to function so that our officers can do their jobs as we expect them to do worldwide
On where talks go from here
On the question of a next round, I think that we made a great deal of progress this time and that I don’t know that we will need another round. I think at this point this is likely to be the kind of thing that can be hammered out using our diplomatic missions, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, and the Cuban Interests Section here in Washington, and the very capable chiefs of mission in those two interests sections.
