Govt urges US to ease sanctions on eve of talks

HAVANA: Cuba on Monday said it would insist the US ease sanctions and end special treatment of Cubans illegally entering its territory at high level migration talks slated to begin yesterday in Washington.

The twice annual meetings resumed in 2022 after being suspended during the US presidency of Donald Trump and amid a record surge of around half a million Cubans illegally entering the United States beginning in 2021, according to US authorities.

Cuba is mired in a deep economic crisis characterised by shortages of basic goods, run-away inflation and blackouts.

The talks’ stated aim is to promote safe, l egal and orderly migration between the two countries.

Johana Tablada de la Torre, deputy director for US affairs in Cuba’s foreign ministry, expressed frustration at not reaching those goals while stating the talks remained important as one of the few points of contact under the administration of President Joe Biden.

“The blockade [sanctions] ... is what most weighs in on the bilateral migration situation,” Ms Tablada told a press conference in Havana.

Cuba’s Communist government has long blamed US sanctions for strangling the island’s economy and the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which grants special entry rights to Cubans and support upon arrival, for encouraging its youth to emigrate.

The United States counters that a lack of civil liberties and human rights in Cuba have combined with a statedominated economy to force its citizens to migrate.

The Biden administration has increased legal pathways to migration for Cubans, including visa access in Havana, family reunification and humanitarian parole programs aimed at stemming illegal migration.

Ms Tablada said the measures would not solve the problem as long as sanctions remained in place.