US & Cuba To Hold 3rd Bilateral Commission Meeting On 16 May 2016... Compare The Media Release From Each Government- What Is Mentioned And What Is Not Mentioned

United States and Cuba to Hold Third Bilateral Commission Meeting in Havana, Cuba

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 12, 2016

The United States and Cuba will hold the third Bilateral Commission in Havana, Cuba on Monday, May 16. Following the successful visit of President Obama to Havana in March 2016, Secretary Kerry asked Ambassador Kristie Kenney, the Counselor of the U.S. Department of State, to lead the delegation.

The Secretary places a top priority on deepening our dialogue with the Government of Cuba, the primary mechanism for which is the Bilateral Commission. Deputy Assistant Secretary John S. Creamer will also attend for the United States. The Cuban delegation will be led by Josefina Vidal, the Foreign Ministry’s Director General for U.S. Affairs.

The meeting will provide an opportunity to review progress on a number of shared priorities since the last Bilateral Commission meeting in November 2015, including progress made during the President’s historic trip to Cuba in March.

The United States and Cuba expect to plan continued engagements on environmental protection, agriculture, law enforcement, health, migration, civil aviation, direct mail, maritime and port security, educational and cultural exchanges, telecommunications, trafficking in persons, regulatory issues, human rights, and claims for the remainder of 2016.

Cuba and United States to hold Third Meeting of the Bilateral Commission

HAVANA, May 12th, 2016. The third meeting of the Cuba-United States Bilateral Commission will be held next Monday, May 16th, in Havana.

The Cuban delegation will be headed by Director General for United States affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, and United States delegation will be led by Counselor to the Secretary of State, Kristie Kenney.

During this meeting, the parties will review the accords of the second Commission, held on November 10th, 2015, in Washington, and the results achieved since then.

Likewise, the meeting will serve to define the actions both parts will carry out during the rest of the year to advance the process to improve the relations, including, the celebration of technical meetings and the adoption of cooperation agreements on issues of common interest, the realization of high-level visits in both ways and the celebration of dialogues on issues of bilateral and multilateral interest in which we have similar positions.

The need to lift the blockade, to return the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base to Cuba, and to eliminate other policies which are harmful to Cuba’s sovereignty, will be reiterated by the Cuban delegation as essential to have normal relations between Cuba and the United States.

The Bilateral Commission was created in August, 2015, as a mechanism to follow up the ties between the two countries following the re-establishment of the diplomatic relations. The first meeting was celebrated on September 11th, 2015.