US and Cuba complete more agreements

With just days to go until Donald Trump is sworn in as US President, the Obama administration has signed off on more agreements with Cuba.

Jeffrey De Laurentis, United States acting ambassador to Cuba

The Obama administration and Cuba continue to sign co-operation agreements. (AAP)

The Obama administration and Cuba continue to sign co-operation agreements as they scramble to complete negotiations on a range of issues with just days to go until Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.

An agreement to co-operate on air and maritime search and rescue in the Florida Straits was signed on Wednesday in Havana, and another setting territorial limits in the contested Gulf of Mexico waters was scheduled for signing on Wednesday or Thursday.

A third agreement on health protocols for dealing with issues such as bird flu was scheduled for signing on Wednesday, but postponed for later this week.

It would be the last of 22 accords that have been concluded in the last 18 months.

Seeking to reverse more than 50 years of US efforts to force Communist-run Cuba to change by isolating it, Democratic President Barack Obama agreed with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to work to normalise relations.

Since then the two countries have restored diplomatic relations and Obama has taken a number of steps to increase travel and trade with Cuba.

Trump, a Republican who will be sworn in on Friday, has threatened to end the detente if Cuba does not make further concessions, although he has not specified what these should be.

The prospect of a fresh chill has prompted both governments to wrap up negotiations on five agreements since the November election, including one on fighting international crime and another on preventing and containing oil spills.

The Obama administration last week ended a 21-year-old special arrangement by which all Cubans arriving in the United States, including without visas, were entitled to stay and seek residency.

The policy had long been criticised by the Cuban government.

The Trump transition team has included five Cuban-Americans who are vocal opponents of detente and who have close ties to Cuban-American lawmakers calling for a return to efforts to isolate Cuba.

A number of Trump appointees, including his national security advisor, Michael Flynn, have expressed opposition to the effort to normalise relations.


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2 min read
Published 19 January 2017 7:06am
Source: AAP

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