Skip to main content

U.S.-Cuba Relations Could Advance in Panama



A woman walks under a Cuban flag in Santiago de Cuba.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Analysis


According to media reports, a high-profile delegation from the United States will attend the inauguration of Panamanian President-elect Juan Carlos Varela on July 1. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson, Ambassador to Panama Jonathan Farrar and Massachusetts state Gov. Deval Patrick will attend. Although political delegations to presidential inaugurations are routine, the likely presence of a Cuban delegation at the event provides the opportunity for contact between Cuban and U.S. diplomats. The inclusion of a high-ranking official like Kerry suggests that substantive talks between Cuba and the United States may occur at the event. Such talks would almost certainly discuss the political negotiations with Cuba proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama.

The likelihood of such interaction has increased since the United States made clear its intention to explore the possibility of improving political relations with Cuba. The United States indirectly reached out to Havana through Uruguayan President Jose Mujica earlier in June. Mujica delivered a letter to Cuban President Raul Castro at the G-77+China conference in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. In the letter, President Obama offered to hold a dialogue with Cuba to discuss the economic embargo on the island, as well as the continued imprisonment of Alan Gross. Gross is a U.S. citizen who has been held in Cuba since December 2009 on suspicion of subversive activities.

A meeting between the U.S. delegation and any Cuban officials at the inauguration would imply that both sides are willing to discuss the issues presented in Obama's letter. Havana, however, has been reluctant to begin serious discussions on the issue. Cuba's reticence is likely due to the pace of ongoing economic and political reforms on the island, which have progressed slowly over the past four years. Cuba's reluctance also derives from its consistent demand for Washington to remove its embargo. The potential for a favorable outcome for the island in this regard could spur Cuba toward further negotiations.

For now, a meeting in Panama City would indicate advances in preliminary moves toward a negotiation between Washington and Havana. The potential release of Gross would likely be an initial point of discussion in any formal dialogue. Obama has already shown his desire to discuss the release of Gross, and talks on that issue would indicate that the Cubans are open to expanding the dialogue into other areas. Even if meetings occur in Panama, progress toward full negotiations will take time. Aside from any residual political animosity between the two countries, there are several practical matters to resolve before any barriers can be lifted. Cuba has been clear from the start that it wants a paced, orderly transition in the event of a change to the status quo.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re
Post a Comment
Read more

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has
Post a Comment
Read more

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif
1 comment
Read more